There’s waste in your operating budget that can be recovered …if you know where to look and how to free it up. The waste is being caused by overpaying for equipment and services. From my experience, it’s not just a couple of dollars either. My clients are shocked to discover they were wasting hundreds of thousands (sometime millions) of hard dollars.

Although my expertise lies within one industry, the concepts we use to enhance the value you receive from a vendor works for any industry, product or service. “Enhancing value” means lowering the hard dollar cost for products or services while maintaining or improving vendor service support levels. When I initially meet with prospective clients, the idea of being able to reduce copy, print and fax costs, while at the same time improving vendor performance is usually met with some level of skepticism. Statements are made like: “we already have the best deal possible, or I have a great relationship with my vendor, I know they are giving us the best deal possible.”

Actually, the only way to really know if you are receiving the best possible value from your current vendor(s) is to obtain several pricing and service benchmarks (also known as “data points”) to measure against your current costs and service levels.

What Are Your Options?

At this point in my initial discussion with prospective clients, I am usually asked “can’t I just renegotiate with my current vendor(s)”? You can, but what will that really tell you? Just because your current vendor makes cost and/or service concessions, you will still not have any other data points to evaluate the value you are receiving. I explain in another article titled “Why Partnering with Vendors Does Not Work” that the opposing motives you and your vendor have prevent you from getting the best value, without additional leg work.

Sometimes I am told “I can issue my own Request for Proposal (RFP) and lower my costs myself. This will save the cost of your fee.” That statement is correct, but the question to ask is; what is my true net return? To evaluate your true net return, you first have to determine the dollar amount you are sure that internal efforts can reduce your current hard dollar costs by.

Hopefully your procurement department has a record of their results from other similar projects. If you do not have an internal track record make sure to evaluate the probability that their internal result estimates are realistic. What previous experience in that specific industry lends credibility to their estimates? Make sure you have an understanding of the service levels being provided by your current vendor(s) and that you can accurately describe what service criteria you need moving forward.

You also need to look at the labor costs needed to acclimate yourself to the industry for this project. Any industry is constantly changing to (hopefully) improve its products and services. From the last time your organization immersed itself in research of this industry, many details have changed. You must allow time for your procurement team to update themselves on the industry and vendor pool, as well as implementing the RFP itself. An estimate of over one hundred labor hours is not uncommon for the average project.

Next, ask a performance-based consultant (for your target industry/cost area) what they believe your cost reduction potential is. Subtract their fee from the savings estimate and compare this to what you think you can achieve internally minus your internal project labor costs.

It will be important for you to determine how accurate the consultant’s projections are. You have already evaluated how realistic your internal projections are. Now ask what verifiable track record does the consultant have to assure you their cost reduction projection is accurate? Does the consultant provide a written guarantee of their projected performance and/or do they have verifiable references? The best performance guarantee is one that ensures results and if the results are not delivered, the service fee is waived.

A good performance-based consultant is similar in many respects to a medical specialist. Unlike the general practitioner who needs to know a little about all of the human body, the specialist focuses on a small area and is the unequivocal expert in that area. Your internal resources have to know a little about a lot of product/services that you purchase and use to operate your business. General practitioner experience will allow a comparison of bid responses and/or proposals, but it will not allow you to know if you are receiving the best value possible. The general practitioner will not have “industry insider” data points that the specialist already knows and uses to ensure you receive the best possible value.

Find out if any of your internal resources have been inside the industry being evaluated, on the vendor side of the table, for at least five years. The best previous work experience, to help your internal team’s analysis, will be from those that have held positions in sales, executive management (CEO, COO, and CFO) or as a business owner within your targeted industry.

Now complete a side-by-side comparison of the pros and cons, as well as projected results for implementing an RFP using internal resources versus using a cost reduction consultant. Is the project being evaluated the area where you can realize your highest ROI? It will not be in your best interest to head down the path of an internal RFP if the net results (all cost considered) are better with an outsourced project or if this project would prevent you from completing another project with higher return.

It is important to note that you will not have the luxury of obtaining data points through a formal bid or gathering proposals and then implement a project with a consultant. Vendors do have a limit before they blacklist your organization as not being a serious buyer. You essentially have one shot when engaging an industry to reevaluate your costs, so chart your actions carefully.

At this point in the process you can determine the true cost of the value enhancement project. Your choices are: 1) do nothing, 2) implement the project internally and 3) engage a performance-based consultant. The true cost compares doing nothing to your internal efforts minus labor costs with the amount that a performance-based consultant projects, minus their fee. Is there a cost for doing nothing? If not, move on your next highest expense category. If so, what is the best course to take to maximize the value you receive from vendors?

In summary, we have discussed the key steps you must take to ensure you receive the best possible value from your vendors. Look at your largest expense areas first and work down through all the expense categories you feel are significant for your organization. The steps listed above will remain the same, regardless of industry. You have to determine if your internal resources have the industry knowledge, track record, and labor resources to implement and complete a specific “value enhancement” project.

After completing each of the steps outlined above and assessing the probable outcomes, you will have a reliable method to use to evaluate whether to engage outside assistance or use your internal resources to reduce your costs and enhancing vendor performance. Remember, only by using multiple data points (obtained from “inside” the industry) to compare with your current cost and service levels are you assured that you are truly receiving the best possible value from your vendors.

David Cantliffe is the President and Founder of BottomLine Advantage LLC located in Louisville, Colorado. BottomLine Advantage is a performance-based, client advocacy consulting group that specializes in reducing hard dollar costs for copy, print and fax expenses while simultaneously enhancing vendor service support levels.

David has over 18 years experience as a sales representative within the copier industry combined with 5 years experience as a dealership principal. You can download free articles containing additional cost reduction ideas at http://www.bottomlineadv.com inside the resources tab, send an e-mail with questions or contact David at 888.400.3600.

© Copyright – David Cantliffe. All Rights Reserved Worldwide

Have you heard enough of overly played classics like “Macarena,” “YMCA,” and “Love Shack?” If you don’t want your Disc Jockey to spin “Joy to the World,” and other certain songs at your wedding, then you may want to make sure you schedule a point-by-point consultation with the DJ that you are considering hiring.

Discuss the music ahead of time Your once in a lifetime wedding is a special day in which you bring family and friends of all ages together. You will want to make sure everyone, young and old alike, has a wonderful, memorable time. Booking a reliable Disc Jockey is an essential decision for the success of your wedding reception. Come to know that a versatile wedding DJ will be open to your suggestions. However, Disc Jockeys cannot know what your musical preferences are without your communication. A professional DJ will play from your desired song list, be willing to play requests and give you feedback for your wedding reception. Once your wedding reception is under way, the last thing you want to do is complain to the disc jockey! Consulting with your DJ ahead of time will save you a lot of frustration when you and your guests are ready to dance the night away.

Is your heart set on having the greatest time of your life? Then make your wedding an affair to remember! When interviewing a disc jockey for your wedding, ask your prospective DJ what type of music he or she typically plays at a wedding reception. Before hiring the DJ, see if the DJ is willing to play musical choices that go with your mood, tastes and style. When DJs are willing to work with you, they will accept a Play List and a Don’t Play list. This will guarantee that the music selections that you want to hear will definitely be played and the songs you don’t want played, won’t be. Once a DJ understands your preferences, he or she will be able to personalize your wedding and give you suggestions that will create a unique musical selection just for your perfect wedding.

Since your wedding is one of the most important days in your life, one of your questions will be, “Which wedding DJ can I trust to entertain my guests? Hiring a truly talented, experienced DJ will make all the difference in creating a great wedding atmosphere. Something to consider is whether or not your DJ is a trained professional that will absolutely guide your wedding event flawlessly from beginning to end. Inquire if your DJ is talented in music knowledge, and in their blending and mixing skills. Maybe you can see your DJ in action at a party event beforehand. Also decide what style of DJ you desire. Decide whether you want a DJ whose personality is enthusiastic and really knows how to keep the party going. Decide if you want your DJ’s MC style to talk, joke between the songs and include group participation or if you want your DJ to smoothly and quietly run the reception.

Another important question to ask is whether your Disc Jockey uses professional audio equipment. Not only do you want a DJ to play your favorite tunes, you definitely want the music to sound professional and not just off an iPod. Although professional gear does not guarantee a Disc Jockey’s talent, it definitely makes a big difference when they are using professional-grade sound gear. In addition, ask the DJ if he or she provides backup equipment in case of an unexpected emergency.

More Important Things to Consider

Find out who will be the actual DJ who will be spinning the discs at your wedding. This is crucial. You would hate to spend an hour interviewing your wedding DJ, only to have another DJ show up! Make absolutely certain your contract spells out exactly who will be your DJ on your wedding day. If you want the owner and not their employee, make sure it is written in the contract. The contract should also state what time and place the DJ is supposed to be. All verbal promises made by your DJ should be documented in writing on your contract. For chances are, your DJ won’t remember months from now what they verbally promised you today.

Inquire about DJ overtime, and other unexpected or hidden fees. Your contract should clearly specify all costs including any assistant disc jockeys they will have with them, as well as special equipment lighting packages, or other fees that they pass on to you the client. Be wary of vendors who give you low ball quotes, but only give you 3 hours of time! If your reception runs longer, you may be surprised to find out, “It’s another $200 per hour or we walk out right now”. You must also plan for overtime in case the reception runs longer than your contract specifies. Your contract should clearly spell out how much extra it will cost you to have your DJ for an extra hour or 2. Do not accept verbal promises stating they will work extra hours for free. Put it in writing in the contract, or the DJ may not do it. Don’t be blindsided like many brides and grooms are when their wedding event runs overtime. You don’t want surprises. Your wedding DJ contract should cover all bases so you know exactly how much your DJ will cost you.

Ask what attire your disc jockey will be wearing at your wedding. This may sound like a no brainer, but you usually want your DJ to wear formal attire, like a tuxedo, unless you are having a themed event. You don’t want your DJ showing up to your affair wearing jeans!

Finally, as mentioned earlier, it is a good idea to have your booking confirmed in a written contract. The traditional initial payment for DJ services is 50%. Current rates for the DJ industry vary greatly, with an average of $1,200.00 for a 4 hour booking. A full-service disc jockey company will normally invest many hours in your special event even though it appears that you are only paying for four hours. A Disc Jockey should arrive at least one hour prior to the start time of your wedding. Your DJ should ideally be set up and ready to spin before your wedding guests start walking through the door. Come to realize that the lowest priced DJ is not always your best deal, especially when you are planning a wedding. In hindsight, most wedding couples would have spent more money on their Disc Jockey if they had made their entertainment a priority.

So use these helpful tips for the overall success of your special occasion, and make your wedding day that much more special and enjoyable with the confidence that you have selected a great DJ!

May you begin a lifetime of love and happiness!

Rev. Diane Cuesta

Owner of BestWeddingNJ.com

For more wedding tips and a free wedding planner and wedding vows, visit http://www.bestweddingnj.com/

If you happen to live in New Jersey, Best Wedding NJ has put together the ultimate New Jersey wedding services for you to make your wedding planning a breeze!

If you’re looking for a business that
• you can start and run from home
• requires a minimum start-up cost and
• provides you the opportunity to work your own hours
• has the potential for you to earn as much as you want
check into becoming a consultant for a Home Decor company.

How A Home Party Business Works:

As a consultant with a home decor company, you start by purchasing a sales kit that has everything you need to hold your first party, or first several parties. You will also receive training from another consultant or manager in the company – usually the person who sponsored you.

The basic idea behind this type of business – known as direct sales, or direct selling, is that you recruit people who are willing to hold a home decor party in their home and invite guests – neighbors, colleagues, friends and family members.

During the party, you pass out a catalog and show the products that are in your sales kit, and take orders. You might also do a few simple product demonstrations – for example, show how to combine silk flowers with candlestick holders, or show how well different items in the catalog can be combined to create customized decor.

You also invite other guests to schedule a party in their homes at a later date, offering incentives such as free or reduced merchandise or “hostess-only” gifts that they can earn by holding a party.

Why Home Party Businesses are So Successful

These types of home shopping parties are very popular, especially for newly married, 30-something women, who are looking for ways of making their homes more attractive and welcoming, but have little time to shop or learn more than basic skills in home decorating. Plus, everyone loves going to a party, where you can relax, get together with friends and have a good time.

Home Party Companies

Two well-known home decor companies are “Home Interiors” and “Southern Living Home Party.” According to their Website, Home Interiors has over 100,000 Decorating Consultants, and is the largest direct seller of home accessories in North America.

Southern Living Home Party offers individualized WebPages to each of their consultants and royalties (an additional commission) for every consultant who signs up as a result of your recommendation.

To find more home party companies, search on the Internet for “home décor parties” “direct selling opportunities” or “home décor party plan business.”

Is a Home Party Decor Business Right for You?

Even people who say they don’t like selling often do very well with this type of business, especially if they choose a company with a solid reputation, a good training program and quality merchandise.

According to Helen Huppert, a director with Southern Living At Home, she started her business as a way to get out of the house once a week but soon realized she could contribute to her family’s monthly income. One of the things she likes best about running her own home party consulting business is that she knows she’s not alone, that she’s part of a team who is committed to her success.

It’s important that you take a realistic look at your personal attitudes and likes and dislikes. If you’re someone who doesn’t like to get up in front of people and talk, or if you think you won’t be willing to put in the time it takes to make phone calls and get parties lined up, this might not be the best business for you.

On the other hand, if the issue is simply that you’re not sure of yourself, or you are shy, this might be exactly the type of business you need to build your confidence and increase your self-esteem. By letting your sponsor or trainer know about your misgivings, and letting her know what training you might benefit from the most, you’ll increase your chances of success.

What to Watch Out For

Before choosing which home décor party company you want to work with, do some Background research on the company first. Ask your sponsor questions, and if possible, get the contact information of other home décor consultants as well and talk to them as well. Check with your local better business bureau, state attorney general’s office and local Chamber of Commerce.

As with any home-based business opportunity, owning your own home décor consulting business, you need to investigate the offer and the company seriously, and make an informed decision. But once you make the commitment, dive in with both feet and prepare yourself to have a wonderful time meeting new people, earning additional income and maybe even winning some great prizes. Before long, you’ll find that you’ve mastered new skills, and will be well on your way to being a successful business owner doing something you love.

Discover How You Can Pick Up Laura Worechek’s Free Software Made Just For Home Party Consultants! Click Here http://www.homepartyprofitsoftware.com
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Remember the taste of freedom? That exhilarating but slightly scary sensation you had when you stepped out of wage or salary slavery and into your own business?

As business owners turn out the lights in the evening long after their last employee has gone home, after they’ve spent a day dealing with endless paperwork, perennial staff issues, difficult customers and clients, gnarly production issues, the question occasionally pops into their tired minds: How did I lose my freedom?

The simple answer is that it was taken from you, bit by bit, by the endless demands of running your own business.

Few of us thought that freedom was going to be free. Thomas Jefferson said that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance, but as business owners, these noble words only serve to remind us that we have to be everywhere, watch everybody, and know everything.

Many business owners feel like they’ve traded in a corporate slavery for a home-made one. They’re locked into the unstoppable treadmill – each year’s results look much like last year’s. They’re still working the same long hours and aren’t seeing as much of our family as they’d like to. Their health is OK, but it gets harder to muster the energy and enthusiasm they had when they started out. Their business results are OK, but they’re not getting much closer to the financial freedom they dreamed about. The frustrating thing is they know they could get there if they could just get time to move the business forward rather than spending all their time treading water.

There are four main reasons why business owners end up on the unstoppable treadmill:

Complexity: when we started out in business we had a great idea and a clear market. As we grew and became established, we added more products and services. We added more staff to keep up with demand, and with that came the inevitable complications associated with employing human beings – motivating them, managing them, trying to get the best from them. Of course we have to keep an army of public servants employed too. At the start we were bouncing one ball. Now we feel like circus performers trying to keep a dozen plates spinning on poles – and it seems the only person who can keep them all spinning is me.

Obsolete actions: our business outcomes are by and large a product of what we do, and what we do is dictated by what we think. If we still think about ourselves and our role the same way we did when we started, we’ll still be doing many of the same things we did at the outset. We all know that if we keep doing the same things, we’ll get the same results. It’s obvious. What’s not obvious is what else we should be doing. And even if we can think of something else to do, there’s no time to do it.

Obsolete networks: The customers we’ve served, the staff we’ve employed, the suppliers we’ve used are all part of what we might call our value network. Again, they’re the people who’ve got us to where we are today. But are they the people who will get us to where we want to be? Chances are we need more and/or better customers, more and/or better skilled staff and even different suppliers to get the business to the next level. How do we go about doing that without putting today’s business at risk?

The time trap: when we started, if we were lucky we had a little money, a few customers, and at least one good idea. The only thing we had plenty of was our time. So we used our time to make money. We sold the things we made ourselves until we could get into a position where we could employ staff to make them and sell them for us. Chances are, we still regard our time as the thing that makes us money. But in reality, our greatest value to the business is our capacity to think. Unfortunately, as long as we think time equals money, we won’t be using our most valuable resource: our minds.

So how can we get ourselves free? Ironically, freedom requires discipline. We need to:

• Identify those things we do every day that we are good at, and that really add value to the business. Everything else has to be delegated. That means a lot of time upfront, because for most of us the way we get our hands off the business is going to be one finger at a time. We have to train staff and monitor their performance until they’re performing the function at an adequate level. Of course they can’t do it as well as us, but they don’t have to: they just have to do it well enough for the purpose. The owner is the one who needs the most training: we have to learn to let go. This will simplify our lives as well as get us focused on the activities that give us growth
• Segment our clients into the top ten, the second ten, and the rest. Like as not, 80% of our profits will come from 20% of our clients. Some of our clients and customers actually cost us money when we take all the costs of service into account. To grow your share of top and second ten client/customer spend, you may have to jettison or reduce the service to C class customers. Better still, if they cost you money, direct them to your competition!
• Manage our time. There are a number of different approaches to this. The NBCoach time system involves the following steps:
  • Set aside Time Off first, as this is when we recharge the batteries. Relaxation is not a reward for effort, it is a prerequisite to the energy needed to drive our business forward
  • Nominate Time On: this is Development Time, dedicated to building the business. This might involve training staff, planning, implementing new systems and processes – all the things that will create greater value further down the track, but that we are not investing time in now. My Development Day is Friday, and it’s when I spend my time creating my future
  • Time In: these are for all he clean up activities that we don’t get to – tidying up emails, returning non-urgent calls, dealing with administration – all the things that clutter our days right now

All this is easy to say. While a few people get the idea and make all this happen by themselves, in our experience it takes up to three years to change the programming of a lifetime. Over that time, most of us need a structure of accountability and review to help us focus on implementing permanent and significant change.But if we want to be free again, the first thing we have to change is our the way we think. Then we can build a business that works for us, not the other way round.

To find out more, go to Mike’s website –

5 June 2008

Mike is Managing Director of National Business Coaching Ltd. Since 2003 Mike has worked with hundreds of business owners who are looking to take their lives and business to the next level.

Prior to getting involved in the small business sector he was Chief Operating Officer at Southern Cross Healthcare, taking over at the height of the operational crisis in late 2001. Mike led the company from a loss of $42M into a profit of $30M in two years.

Mike joined Southern Cross from Ernst & Young Consulting. He was a partner in the Wellington office, leading the national Strategy and Transformation team. He worked with the leaders of large and small firms in agribusiness, insurance, government and financial services.

Prior to joining Ernst & Young, he ran his own consultancy business. Mike is married with 3 fast-growing children, and his hobbies include guitar, fishing, golf and sports of most kinds.

I will keep this guide as simple as possible.

The first thing that I will point out is that there is no such thing as a free lunch – you tend to get what you pay for and if you want to pay nothing i.e. you want it for free then you’ll need to be lucky as a starting point.

Well with PSP downloads you are in luck. The reason is that there is a huge selection of sites out there that offer free PSP downloads for games, game cheats, you name it there’s a site that you can use!

Free to use P2P sites for your PSP downloads – Option 1

However if you want to find free downloads without paying a cent use your favourite search engine for something like ‘free PSP download sites’ and you will literally be confronted by at least 3 million web pages!

The next question you should ask yourself is Why aren’t more people doing this and downloading for free? There’s a very simple answer- they’re not really free! The reason is that while they are free to download tunes the quality, choice and security are seriously flawed aspects.

Unless you are well familiar with how these P2P sites operate and know the danger signals don’t use them. You may end up with free tunes and a seriously infected PC.

There are quite a few forums online that can give you assistance if this is the route you really want to go down and they can be fun for a while but these forums are populated by people who are a lot more technically ‘savvy’ than me and I’ve heard of quite a few scams within some forums (as you can imagine these soon get outed!) So not for the faint hearted here! You can find them by searching using ‘free PSP downloads+forums’!

PSP downloads that are free -BUT? – option 2

These are sites that come up on your search as free – but really you’ve been tricked! As soon as you have downloaded a game or attempt to do so you are prompted with a box that requires you to pay a monthly subscription – no thanks! These guys usually charge up to $15 a month – what a rip-off!

PSP Download Sites with unlimited free downloads – Option 3

I can hear you ask – I thought this guy was going to show me where I can get free PSP Downloads? Well I have – see the previously mentioned options, but I wouldn’t necessarily be giving you the full range of possibilities if I didn’t mention this.

These sites are sites that allow for an unlimited download of PSP games, movies, cheats and even music with high quality, high choice and no viruses. There is a charge but not for the downloads, they’re free, but for membership usually no more than $40.

The reason these sites can do this is that they are a combination of option 1 (file sharing) and a pay per download site. The owners of these sites have invested in large databases where downloaded files have been stored in an accessible membership area and are ‘vetted’ for quality and viruses are eliminated so what you get is quality psp downloads!

In addition you get ‘freebies’ that are often worth more than the cost of the membership including really useful conversion software.

Go to PSP-Downloads4u.com and see unbiased reviews of some of the best unlimited download sites on the market today, as well as further articles and information that you will find useful in getting the most out of your PSP!

Find out more here to discover more games for your PSP!

Peter Burke MBA has been writing Journals and Articles for academic publications for over 7 years and is Managing Director of a Consulting Company in the United Kingdom.

Corporate values. If you have to think about them you wouldn’t know where to start. For a small business, the corporate values are close to someone’s own personal values.

Why are they important?

Corporate values are just another characteristic of your organizational profile. Knowing them gives the opportunity to facilitate the communication in your organization. Before you could benefit from this, you should invest in making these corporate values explicit.

You might however not be interested in spending too much time doing this. Values are said to be “soft” and therefore not as easy measurable as a variable like the return on investment (ROI) is.

If the corporate values are not communicated or you may want to know whether they should change, than you could setup a workshop. Starting from scratch is the best way. In that case you are not hindered by a path that is already clearly defined. It takes time though and it is difficult to align everybody with a shared view.

Less intensive is to select the values you think are most appropriate out of an existing list. If you have this done by different people from different areas in your organization, or even within a team, you can swiftly setup an average list of values that are “widely” accepted.

We have such a list you can freely benefit from. The next thing you might check is whether the values are in line with the style of your organization.

And then: back to work and follow them.

Hans Bool is the founder of Astor White a traditional management consulting company that offers online management advice. Astor Online solves issues in hours what normally would take days.Also available: a free corporate values assessment

Every new economy recovery and boom brings new type of business paradigm. It is true about economy in general as well as every market niche. General economic development should be left over to the economists and philosophers to review. Here we will try to draw the trends as we see them through the golden Clinton era time to the recession of 2000-2004 and now economy recovery for ERP consulting company. In our case we are Microsoft Business Solutions and IBM Lotus partner. This small article is not intended to become an initial topic for the discussion – it is rather targeted for ERP client to analyze the trends in our industry and make right decision on the system and business partner:

• ERP market consolidation. As ERP (Accounting, Logistics, Distribution, Warehouse Management, etc) become more and more mature product, we see less and less attempts to build new ERP package from scratch again – it would seem as reinventing the bicycle. We see the consolidation on the mid-market level: Microsoft Business Solutions: Microsoft CRM, Great Plains, Navision, Axapta and Best Software: MASXXX. When large companies serve mid-market through their VARs and implementation partners – the barrier to enter into the niche increases and it is difficult to start new business, targeted to midmarket clients: certification, initial purchase/investment, etc.

• VARs consolidation. When we saw large number of independent Great Plains Software resellers, competing fiercely with each other (especially in Los Angeles and suburbs) – consulting rates were on the relatively low level ($130 per hour) and you, as a potential customer could get a deal on the software price discount. When recession hit the market, customers placed the hold on new ERP purchases as well as new computer equipment, this trend left ERP consulting companies without cash flow and forced them either close the doors or merge with auditing firms to survive. New conglomerates dictate higher consulting rates and stay firm with the software pricelist. This strange fact leaves huge opportunity for opening new businesses simply hoping to provide decent service with small company low overheads

• Consulting Paradigm Change. If you read classical business consulting literature, you can learn that 1960th were the time of business consulting, when you were going to the client to train them in classical marketing, management, accounting, etc. Universities took it over and all these disciplines soon become imbedded into the standard knowledge set of the university graduates. In the earlier 1990th consultant was onsite at the client place to train users to use ERP application. Now we have universities doing this job and employer is hiring graduates trained to use one or another ERP. Now we expect technical and application consulting combination, especially considering next bullet

• Different Platforms Harmony. In 1990th such platforms as Windows, Macintosh, Unix (Linux, Solaris, AIX) considered counterparts as enemies and were fighting for the market to take over. Little by little they become to the conclusion that they all have rights to the existence and they need to communicate to each other in order to survive. Such inventions as multiplatform Java/EJB/J2EE, XML, HTML, JSP prove the future harmony. For the ERP consultant it means that she/he should be familiar with the competitors and be ready to suggest the integration between the platforms

• Offshoring. This is really dangerous trend for the folks who are trying to make the career of the computer programmer in the States or Continental Europe. However most of these guys are from India, Russia, Pakistan, East Europe, Philippines, Brazil, so instead of giving up – go ahead and launch your own practices and deploy the expertise of your overseas friends. Manufacturing is now went offshore – now it is time for the programming to go offshore.

Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer in Alba Spectrum Technologies – USA nationwide Great Plains, Microsoft CRM customization company, serving Chicago, California, Arizona, Texas, Florida, Georgia, New York, Australia, UK, Canada, Continental Europe, Russia and having locations in multiple states and internationally ( http://www.albaspectrum.com ), he is Dexterity, SQL, C#.Net, Crystal Reports and Microsoft CRM SDK developer.

Consulting Vs Selling, How we can make sales by not doing selling but consulting. As we know, everybody loves to buy but hates to be sold. We need to engage in non-manipulative selling, and ask deeper questions that will make the sale.

View Yourself As A Consultant

One particular self-image possessed by high-achieving salespeople is that they see themselves as consultants rather than as salespersons. They see themselves as problem solvers with their products or services rather than as vendors looking for someone who will trade them money for what they have to offer.

Approach Them As Clients

They do not approach their customers with hat in hand, hoping for a sale. They approach their “clients” with the attitude that they are consultants calling on the prospect to help him or her solve a problem or achieve a goal.

Ask Questions And Listen Carefully

Seeing themselves as consultants, they ask questions carefully and listen intently. They focus all of their energies on understanding the customer’s situation so that they can make intelligent recommendations based on what the customer really wants and needs.

Become An Expert In Your Field

As consultants, they recognize that they must be experts, authorities in their field. They know their products and services from one end to the other. They invest many hours familiarizing themselves with every single detail of what they sell, and of what their competitors sell as well. They know the strengths and weaknesses, the advantages and shortcomings, the features and benefits of what they are offering. They have excellent product knowledge, which their customers can sense and which gives both themselves and their customers greater confidence throughout the sales conversation.

Differentiate Yourself from Your Competitors

Top salespeople, positioning themselves as consultants, see themselves as resources for their clients. They see themselves and carry themselves as advisors, mentors and friends. They become emotionally involved in their transactions and they are generally concerned that their product or service be the ideal solution to the real needs of the prospects they are dealing with. They differentiate themselves from their competitors by being more concerned with helping their prospects than with selling their products or services. Their customers often feel that they care more about them than they care about making a sale. And it’s true.

Action Exercises

Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.

First, see yourself as a problem-solver rather than as a salesperson. Take sufficient time to understand the prospect’s real need before you start selling.

Second, think of ways to tailor your product or service to your customer’s needs so that he sees what you sell as the ideal solution for him.

Gordon Goh is author of the free, informative website Simply Motivation offering quality useful tips for Motivation.