Importance of Effective Materials Management

Effective materials management involves maximizing material productivity. This requires well coordinated approach towards various problems related to materials. With respect materials it helps in decision making. Effective material management solves many problems and some of important problems are as follow:

1. Inventory Problem - It helps in solving problems related to reducing inventories in the context of reducing uncertainties in demand and supply. It helps in projection of demand. The gap between demand and supply is very crucial for any business hence effective materials management is very important.



2. Pilferage – Issues of proper planning regarding avoidance of pilferage are also solved by effective materials management,



3. Improving Materials Productivity ‐ Problems regarding standardization and reduction methodologies for improving productivity are also solved by effective materials management,



4. Waste Management - Effective materials management also helpsw in developing policies and procedure for managing waste materials.



Issues of proper planing of store or warehouse are also important part of effective management and it involves store layout. Hence for solving above problems an integrated approach of material management must be applied properly.
 

Factors to Decide Effective Capacity of a Plant

1. First of all you have to consider financial resources and investment which are made and likely to be made by the organization.

2. The material factor that includes design, variety, quantity, the neccessary oerations and their sequence.

3. The man factor that includes direct and indirect workers and manpower utilization.

4. The movement factor that includes transportation.

5. The waiting factor that includes storage and delays.

6. The service factor like parking lot, waiting rooms and maintainance.

7. To decide effective capacity of a plant you have consider future demand including competition factors and others events.

8. Apart from general growth in demand you have to consider market trends and other factors like changes in monsoon etc.

9. Historical data and analysis of product life cycle helps tp decide the effective capacity of plant. For example, the growth of LCD TV sets can be compared with life cycle of other color TV sets and long term predictions of LCD TV sets can be made based on such comparison.

10. Other factors like outside and inside building features and the change factor like versality and expansion should be considered to decide effective capacity of plant

What are the other important factors?

Difference between branding and marketing

Branding is related with brand and marketing is related with market. Amazon is a brand and when you hear this word the thoughts that come in your minds are result of branding and marketing. Marketing and branding both are interrelated and you cannot separate them because marketing cannot exist without branding and branding cannot exist without marketing.
Marketing is a broader term and branding is only one part of marketing. basically marketing is related with four Ps or four Cs. Objective of marketing is to create sale while objective of branding is to create a positive image in consumer`s mind.
In branding these activities are mainly important creating brand, expanding brand and exploiting brand. While in marketing all activities of sales, advertising, pricing and distribution are involved.
Branding is more related with logo, color, shape etc. while marketing is telling the public about the brand.
Brand is a perception while marketing markets and manages that perception. Marketing creates awareness of brand in consumer`s mind. Marketing promote your brand in market.
In short branding is creating your image while marketing is related with the activities that that cause the public to want to know more about what you sell.

Positive Mental Attitude

Attitude is a very small thing, but, hey, it has many advantages. Behind every successful man there is the same secret and that is the positive mental attitude.A man of negative attitudes lives in a negative world while a man of positive attitude lives in a positive world. It would not be an exaggeration that attitude is the key to the success. Attitude formation starts the day a baby is born into the world. I would like to tell a story here. It was a monster in a village and he used to eat villagers everyday. Because he was bigger in size so it was difficult to kill him. A child name of Goliath killed him because of his positive mental attitude. When villagers asked him how did he kill such a big giant then he replied he was not big to hit but he was big to miss and rest is the history.

Attitude change is only possible if we are able to change our thoughts and reactions to everything around . Before going into the ring Mohammad Ali used to say, “I am the greatest”. He used to say this because he wanted to make positive mental attitude and rest is the history.
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If you lack a positive attitude inside you, then it may be termed as you being a pessimist. Your attitude towards life, environment, people, things, events and even yourself determines the quality of life you are going to have.

Selling service is tougher than selling goods

Service being intangible, marketer needs to put on more efforts as he cannot show the things that he is marketing. Being intangible, services cannot be touched or seen.
Because of following characteristics selling intangibles services are tougher than selling goods:
1. Because of intangible character of services marketer faces these difficulties – sampling difficult, difficult to judge in advance, not possible to have patent or copyright. Hence intangibles are relatively difficult to promote. For example, in contrast to soap where you can immediately check its benefits, there is no way to do so in the case of teachers because teaching is an intangible service.
2. Because of inseparability services require presence of performer, direct sale, and also face difficulties because of limited scale of operations and geographically limited market. For example, a plumber and a beautician has to be physically present to provide the services.
3. Heterogeneity characteristics of services makes standardization very difficult task to achieve. For example, the doctor who gave you his complete attention in his last visit may behave a little different in the next time.
4. Services cannot be stored and are perishable. Apart from this most services may face fluctuating demand. For example, there is a peak demand time for busses in morning and evening.
5. In the case of services, customers have access to but not ownership of them.
Thus because of above characteristics of services the marketer must try to convince the customer that the services, they are providing are `the best`.

Role of Operation Manager in Today`s context

No doubt, operation management is a central function of every organization.

1. One of the most important function of operation manager is to make decisions in the production function.

2.Operation manager has to Plan the conversion system.

3. Operation manger should do organising and structuring of operations.

4. Operation manager has to do Job and work design.

5. Monitoring and controlling quality, quantity and cost are another functions of operation manger.

6. With the fast changing development of information technology, the role of operation managers has become more important because they have to adapt according to faster communication mediums.

7. Because of open economy and fast changing technology the role of operation manager has become multi disciplinary that`s why it is more important than what was few years back.

8. Today operation management is essentially a function concerning decision making with respect to operation system.

9. In today's context satisfaction of customer is at lowest cost is necessary, that is the main responsibility of manager.

10. As far as decision making is considered today's operation manager makes three types of important decision. i.e. strategic, operating and controlling or monitoring. decisions. These decision are related to product, process and manufacturing facilities.

Thus it can be concluded that in today's context the role of operation manager is not confined to conversion activity but much beyond that. Above functions clarify the role of operation manager and importance of role of operation manager.

What are the other important functions and why?

Important Factors for Site Selection of an Industrial Plant

1. Location is mainly affected by internal factors of organisation like technology and external factors like political and social environment.

2. If the product is fragile or if the transportation cost is high like in assembly type industry than location of a plant should be nearer to the market.

3. Sometimes accessibility of raw material is important than site should be nearer to raw material supply places.

4. Transportation facilities and availability of manpower play a significant role in site selection.

5. Infrastructure that includes power, water and communication facilities.

6. Community facility and community attitude should be considered.

7. Waste disposal, ecology and pollution need to be considered.

8. When selecting size future expansion needs to be considered.

9. The topography, soil structure and drainage must be suitable.

10 Land cost also play an important role in site selection.

The fertiliser plants are located near the source of raw material. For example, in India Manglore fertiliser at Manglore, Madras fertiliser at Madras, FACT at Chocin. These are the relevant location for above industries.

In the machine tool industry market factors and infrastructure will come into the picture. That's why these industries are scattered over different parts of the country.

What are other important factors ?

Tasks of a Professional Manager

Tasks of a Professional Manager: Those individuals who practice management as a profession are known as professional managers.

1. A manager first should set the objectives, which the firm must achieve.
2. Having decided upon the objectives, the manager must provide purposeful direction to the firm.
3. The manager must constantly monitor the progress and the activities of the firm to ensure that it is moving in desired direction.
4. Ensuring survival and seeking growth of the firm are critical tasks of a manager.
5. Managers maintain firm`s efficiency in terms of profit generation.
6. In today`s fast changing world one of the very critical tasks of every manager is to anticipate and prepare for the increasing competition.
7. Managers must look after both internal and external factors to an organization.
8. Managing for innovation is one of the great tasks of manager.
9. Managers must provide training to every employee of the organization.
10. Every manager has to build a human organization because man is the most critical resource of an organization.
11. To retain talent the manager should provide a comfortable working environment and appropriate to participate.
12. Every manger has to sustain leadership effectiveness. Every manager is a leader in the sense that he has to influence and inspire his subordinates.
13. Managers maintain balance between creativity and conformity.
14. It is manager`s task to ensure that the change is introduced and incorporated in a smooth manner.
15. The use of computers has totally changed the way of information handling. Now it is a task of manager to define what the relevant information is.
16. Manger has to cope with growing public and political criticism.
17. It is manager`s task to fulfill increasing level of aspiration.
18. To create positive impact in society the managers should maintain good relations with various society segments.
It can be concluded that the tasks may vary depending upon the managerial level, function and industry to which mangers belong.

What are the other tasks of a professional manager?

General Sources of Conflict

Management today is forced with the awesome responsibility of ensuring optimum level of growth in environment that is full of conflicting situations. Here are some general sources of conflict:
1. Resource availability is always a constraint for most organizations and various unit of the organization compete for these resources.
2. Groups or departments in an organization have different functions to perform and often the goals on one group are incompatible with goals of another group. For example, a marketing team is always oriented giving more discount and credit period to the customers to maximize sales, whereas the finance department will oppose the move as it will reduce the profitability and will create more in the department.
3. In an organization various departments depend on each other for the successful completion of their tasks. This interdependence can cause conflict in the organization.
4. A lot of conflict is generated within the organization because various groups within the organization hold conflicting values and perceive situation in narrow individualistic manner. For example, management-labor conflict.
5. When two organizational units compete over new responsibility conflict may arise from disagreement about who has to perform new responsibility.
6. Change can breed intergroup conflict. For example, acquisition and mergers encourage intergroup conflict.
7. Poor communication such as noise is also a source of conflict.
8. Too much or too little communication of information can lead to conflict.
9. Individual personality characteristics also add to the conflict especially in the case of individuals who are highly authoritarian, arrogant and dogmatic.
These were the general sources of conflict in an organization.
What are the other important sources of conflict in an organization?

FIFO and LIFO Methods

To value inventory there are two common accounting methods -

1. FIFO

2. LIFO

How do you value inventory?

FIFO method is mostly used by many organizations. Basically FIFO or LIFO is used for two reasons -

A. For pricing : It shows the way how the inventory`s selling price is set.

B. COGS – It is also used for value of inventory and the value of your cost of goods sold.

1. FIFO – FIFO stands for “first in, first out”. First item that comes into your warehouse will be the first item shipped out. It means oldest item will be sold first. For example, if a retailers buy 10 cell phones in January 16 and 20 cell phones on 17 January on January 16 he paid $50 for each cell phone and on January due to price hike he had to pay $60 for same cell phone. He sold 25 cell phones in the year. Using FIFO method cost of goods sold would be – {10*$50 + 15*$60 =$1400}. According to FIFO method this $1400 is considered valuation of inventory.

2 LIFO – LIFO stands for “last in, last out”. This method is vice – verse of the FIFO method. Last item that comes into your warehouse will be the first item shipped out. It mean newest item will be sold first. According to above example if you use LIFO method than cost of goods sold would be – {20*60 + 5*50 = $1450}. Now it is simple according to LIFO method this $1450 is considered valuation of inventory.

As far as choosing of method is concerned, though FIFO is mostly used but there are also some advantages of using LIFO method. You have to chose the method considering the price. It depends whether prices are rising or falling.

Difference between Primary Memory and Secondary Memory

Primary Memory: Primary memory holds the programs and data required by the CPU for carrying out its operations.
Types of Primary Memory:
A. Random – Access Memory (RAM): RAM has become the synonym for main memory. RAM is very fast, the access time is in Nano seconds. RAM is volatile that is the contents of RAM are lost when the power supply to the RAM is discontinued. RAM is further divided into two types of memories-
a. Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM): In this type of memory the data is stored in cell of transistors and capacitors and the data has to be refreshed every few milliseconds.
b. Static Random Access Memory (SRAM): This does not require periodical refresh. SRAM is faster than DRAM but it is more expensive as compared to DRAM.
B. Read Only Memory (ROM): A part of computer storage is ROM that cannot be erased or changed. ROM is nonvolatile i.e. its contents are not lost when power is switched off. ROM is also divided into two types of memory:
a. Programmed Read Only Memory (PROM): This is used for storing some specialized application by the computer designers instead of chip designers. PROM can be written only once.
b. Erasable Programmed Read Only Memory (EPROM): This can be erased and programmed many times.
Secondary Memory: The secondary memory is non-volatile and has larger capacity. The most common form of secondary storage devices are magnetic tapes and magnetic disks.

Disciplinary Action Procedure

For every misconduct and act of indiscipline, the manager has to take a disciplinary action against the particular worker. A typical disciplinary action has following steps:
First of all a preliminary enquiry is held in order to find out whether any misconduct exist or not.
Delinquent employee is to be issued a charge sheet, call him to submit his explanation within a specified period of time.
It is considered by the disciplinary authorities that delinquent employee`s presence might endanger the safety of other workmen or he might temper with evidence, he may be suspended.
After receiving his charge sheet the workman may submit his explanation.
The enquiry officer should issue a notice of enquiry.
On the appointed date and time, fixed for enquiry, the following persons should be present apart from the enquiry officer: presenting officer, delinquent employee, representative of delinquent employee.
The enquiry officer should record the date, time, and place of enquiry, names of the persons present and obtain their signatures on the order sheet.
The enquiry officer`s report is submitted to the disciplinary authority. Before he takes a decision, he is required to furnish a copy of the enquiry report to concerned employee. The punishment should be awarded on the basis of the employee, gravity of misconduct and past decisions in similar cases.
The employee can appeal against punishment.
Before passing an order of discharge or dismissal, the employer has to arrange for a fair and proper inquiry.

There are specific purposes of disciplinary action in an organization. A typical disciplinary action procedure has above 10 steps.

The advantages of using Linkedin.com to network

Why do people use Linkedin and why should you use Linkedin?
LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking site. Founded in December 2002 and launched in May 2003. LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 120 million members. Like all other top social networking sites it is growing at a rapid pace.
There are lot of benefits of using Linkedin-
1. It provides you online identity. When people Google you they can find your Linkedin profile on Google at the first page.
2. You can find world class and great answers from world class experts at zero cost. You can learn a lot from these answer and you can use these answers on your blog.
3. For better online identity, discussion and for branding you can create a group on this site.
4. To get opinion on various issues you can create a poll.
5. You can find past and present colleague and professional on Linkedin.
6. You can find a great job with the help of this site.
7. You can share and get advice from industry experts.
8. Linkedin is the only website where you can find depth in profile.
9. Linkedin is used for career management by many professionals.
10. Some people use LinkedIn to “get to someone” in order to make a sale.
11. You can track start ups and your competitors.
12. You can be updated with current trends of industry with this great site.
13. Professional organizations post their jobs and find the good talent on Linkedin.
14. There are lot of applications available on Linkedin that can be used for various purposes. For example to collaborate your projects you can use behance. To promote books you can use amazon reading list, share your documents with box net. Link you blog and use huddle for communication, where are you travelling that can be shared via Tripit. Share your presentation with slide share. All these great application are available on a only a single site and that is only Linkedin.
15. You can get recommendations and at the same time you can recommend others on Linkedin.
16. The best thing about this site that all these features are provided free but you can create a premium account for greater benefits and for using in mails.
17. You can sell products.
18.You can generate leads.
19. It is very good for your online identity and for Google presence.
20. And last but not least, you can drive massive traffic to your blog.
Above advantages tell the great importance of Linkedin.

Phone Sales Tips

Phone Sales Tips:

Although the mediums of communications are changing very fast but these mediums are not available everywhere therefore phone sales is still an important part of you selling cycle.

Although sales people don`t like the cold calling via phone but it is has to be done because it is still relevant and it provides a great learning opportunity. Phone sales is still important for inbound and outbound sales people. Here are the phone sales tips for you –

1. Planning – Plan your goals for phone sales for example number of people
you want to call.

2. Prepare – Do your home work and keep all relevant documents like price list etc. with you. Target good prospects first.

3. Set the time – set the time for every prospect and don’t waste too much of your time for few prospect. Keep in mind your objective and spend your more time with your valuable customer. After all sales is number game.

4. Research – Do a research about your prospect whom you are calling. It will save your time.
Read more in Marketing and Advertising

5. Confidence – Be confidence because your voice tells level of your confidence. To be confident develop a positive mind set because winning in sales depends on positive mind set.

6. Timing – Never wait for right time because this waiting will develop negative thoughts in your mind yet be relevant according to time zones and don’t call to prospects on odd time.

7. Questions – Ask relevant questions but not too many questions.

8. Interesting – Make your call interesting because no one want to talk with a bore person.

9. Person’s name – Always use person’s first name and avoid using last name.

10. Follow up – You can not get results from single call you have to follow your prospects.

11. Introduce – When you are calling first introduce yourself.

12. Speaker phone – Never use speaker phone and wisely use your tone of speaking.

13. First 15 seconds – Focus more on first 15 seconds because these 15 seconds can tell you about effectiveness of your call.

14. Listen – Don’t talk too much and carefully listen to your prospect’s point of vies.

15 Gratitude – Before finishing your call say thank you to every prospect because it is etiquette of phone sales.

16. Gatekeeper – Some times phone is picked by gatekeeper hence don’t avoid him and talk with him respectfully. Yet be careful and do not pitch the gatekeeper.

What are the other great and secret tips?

Sales Lessons from Cricket

Sales Lessons from Cricket:

Cricket is a not only a game to enjoy but you can learn many lessons from this game.

Often you see a cricket team of players but you would have never thought that a cricket team can give you so  many lessons. Cricket offers many lessons to every sales person on how to improve their performance. Here are some lessons -

1. Preparation – When they go into the ground they always go with great preparation. They have their equipment and substitute players. That is what a sales team needs preparation and all equipment.

2. Coaching – They always have a great coach that’s what a sales team needs a great coach.

3. Leading from the front – In cricket game captain always tries to lead from the front. That’s what every sales leader needs.

4. Planning – They always play with planning and they change their plans according to the needs.

5. Risk taking – They take risk time to time according to circumstances. That is the thing that sales professionals needs.

6. 100% Efforts – Every cricket player whether he is fielder, bowler or keeper always puts his hundred percent. This type of commitment is needed from every member of a sales team.

7. Branding – Every equipment from bat to pad carry a brand name. Sales people can learn from this and they can show their brand name on their sales kit.

8. Decision making – In cricket, a captain not only makes decisions on the time of toss but they make bold decision time to time according to circumstances. Every sales leader needs this kind of decision making ability.

9. Strategy – They always play with a strategy. Every sales team should sale their products or services according to their strategy.

10. Alertness – They are always alert on field this kind of alertness every sales individual needs when they work on field.

Above lessons are not only important in sales but also in management and leadership.
What are the others lessons you have learned from a cricket team?

26 January, Republic Day and Constitution of India

Although India obtained its independence on 15th August 1947 but the day 26th January is one of the most important days in Indian history as it was the day on which the constitution of India came into force replacing the government of India Act. To form the constitution there was a drafting committee was appointed.

Republic day is the greatest national festival in India because that is the day when India became truly sovereign state. Every year a grand parade is held in the capital New Delhi, from the Rajghat, along the Vijaypath. The different regiments of the Army, the Air Force and the Navy participate in the parade. The President of India, who is the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Armed Forces, takes the salute and addresses the nation.

Here are the some great features of the Indian Constitution:

1. Indian Constitution is a written constitution.

2. Indian Constitution is the largest constitution in the world.

3. It is blend of rigidity and flexibility.

4. Indian Constitution says that India is a democratic republic means sovereignty rests with the people of India.

5. Indian Constitution adopts parliamentary system. It is also found in Britain.

6. Indian Constitution says India is a Union of States and the government is federal.

7. Indian Constitution gives certain fundamental rights to every citizen.

8. It also contains Directive Principles of State Policy.

9. The 42nd Amendment of India Constitution also suggests fundamental duties to all Indians.

10. Indian Constitution affirms that India is a secular state it means neither religious nor irreligious, or anti religious.

11. Indian Constitution gives an important place to the judiciary and it is made independent of the legislature and executive.

In nutshell the Indian constitution represents a great vision that is based on great values.

Difference Between a Business Development Manager and a Sales Manager

Difference Between a Business Development Manager and a Sales Manager:

What’s the difference between a business development manager and a sales manager ?
The answer is confusing because in many organizations both are used for same profiles. But there are many differences between Business Development Manager and a Sales Manager. Before answering the question I want to make the answer little bit simpler and I want to ask an another question to make this question simple.

What is the difference between business and sales? Simple both are not the same at all, in fact sales is a small component of business. Here are the differences between a business development manager and a sales manager -

1. Business development manager focuses on both long term and short term results while sales manager focuses only on short term sales goals for example weekly, monthly and annual.

2. Business development manager develops new business for a company while sales manager develops sales people within a company for example hiring and training of sales people.

3. The role of business development manager is strategic while the role of sales manger is tactic.

4. Business development manager works according to the vision of the company while sales manager works for revenue generation.

5. Business development manager sets the prices of the products and services while sales manager sales products and services according to the prices set by the company.

6. Business development manager is also responsible for marketing activities while sales manager is responsible for sales activities.

7. A business development manager can play the role of sales manager but sales manager can not play the role of business development role.

Hence business development is broader concept than sales and it is strategic and it is related longer term outcomes, although short term outcomes are not excluded from business development.
What are the other differences between a business development manager and a sales manager?

Social Media and Sales Development

When you talk about sales development then you are actually talking about sales development tools. In this fast changing world sales development tolls are also changing very fast. When you talk about development of sales tools then how can you forget about social media? Social media is an important tool of sales development.

Social media is the only tool that allows you to develop a virtual presence that work for you 24 hours. Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook are the great vehicles on social media and google plus is also coming in this race.

In today`s era every sales professional should know how to use social media and if any sales professional is not using social media than he or she is not a professional sale person.
These tools basically help you to develop strong presence in online world. For example twitter is to help you in google rankings. Google treats every tweets as an individual page, this mean each time you tweet you increasing your value with google.

The only problem with social media is that it does not produce short term results and it becomes a time sucker. But in the long term it will not only give you strong presence but also a great competitive edge. To be honest if you are looking for short term results then I am sorry to say you that it will not deliver, but if your focus is for long run than it is a great tool for you.

To enter in social media world you have to create your professional brand and after that you can use google analytics to measure you social media efforts.

The medium of communication has been changed by social media hence every sales professional has to learn this medium. Every successful sales professional should learn digital sales because in digital life you have to learn digital sales.

With twitter, facebook, linkedin there is an another important and strong tool is blog. These all tools of social media should be integrated into your overall sales and marketing strategy. Sales professional and sales directors can no longer afford to ignore these tools because these tools are the most effective ways to generate leads. These social media sites and tools delivers audience and leads that you should tap for your sales and business development.

In the end I would say if you want to expand your reach you have to use social media tools for your sales and business development.

Marketing Audit

Marketing Audit:

To review and analyse your current performance of your marketing activities you have to do marketing audit. Marketing Audit is a tool that analyse the whole current situation that how profitable is your company. Marketing Audit is very necessary if you want to manage change. This audit is also review your sales forecast. If you want to measure your marketing efforts then Marketing Audit is the best option for you.

Basically Marketing Audit is divided into two areas – 1. External Audit and 2. Internal Audit

1. External Audit – In external audit you have to consider these three environments -

A. Economic Environment – In economic environment you have to consider all environment including social, legal, cultural, environmental and political environment.

B. Competitive Environment – In analysis of competitive environment you have to do SWOT analysis of your competitors.

C. Own Market Environment - In this analysis you have to consider total market size, marketing characteristics, product, prices and distribution. The most important thing in this analysis is you have to analyse how is your own market is changing and evolving.
In external audit you can use PEST and five forces analysis. Both these tools can be used.

2. Internal Audit – Internal Audit analyses the resources that the company has. It analyses
marketing team concerning structure, efficiency, effectiveness, correlation with internal functions and other organizations. In internal audit you can use SWOT analysis.

In nutshell Marketing Audit tells you if your sales forecasting have been accurate and your marketing efforts are producing sufficient growth, covering your cost and generating suitable results. According to Lalit Bhojwani – “Marketing Audit is a performance appraisal for your whole marketing activities that enable you to assess past and present performance.”

Difference Between Sales and Marketing

Difference Between Sales and Marketing:

Marketing and sales both are the important activities and there is difference between marketing and sales.

Difference Between Sales and Marketing:

Marketing and sales both are the important activities for every organization. Marketing is broader term than sales. It consist public relations, branding, advertising, sales etc. Hence sales is the one part or activity of the marketing. Marketing is not related with the closing the sale. When you interacting with the consumer and closing the sale than it is sales.

Marketing is creating the demand in the market while sales is fulfilling that demand. Marketing is more related with branding while sales is related with one on one marketing. For example, when you do all activities to reach mass audiences and consumer to create demand than you are doing marketing and when you are reaching with your prospects one by one via direct calls than your doing sales. It mean sales is a direct activity while marketing is indirect activity.

In small firms usually marketing and sales both are handled by the same department while in big firms or organizations there are different departments for both the activities.
Marketing creates a brand image of the product or service while sales is only related with selling the product or service. Both the activities are interrelated at the some point of the time. When a person is doing marketing than he doing sales on a large scale while when a person selling than at the same time he is doing marketing.

Without marketing you can not sale the product or service. Therefore marketing is more important than sales.

There is one more important difference between marketing and sales and that is the focus. Marketing focuses on long term concerns while sales is related with short term focus.
Marketing is related with educating and creating awareness of the product or service in the market. Sales is also related with educating and creating awareness but the difference is scale marketing do these activities on a huge scale while sales does these activities on very short scale and most of the times one on one basis. Sales is more related with interpersonal and interaction with prospects.

Top Sales Mistakes

If you are in sales then mistakes are inevitable.

To be honest sales is the only profession in which you can not avoid the mistakes. And to learn I would suggest you, make mistakes because sales is the only profession where the results of mistakes usually is not severe as like in other professions. These mistakes are your best learning sources. If you are in sales and you are not making mistakes then I assure you that you are a mediocre or average salesman.
“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.” ~Elbert Hubbard

In sales confidence plays a major role. The number one and only mistake you should avoid is – lack of confidence. If you are in sales and continuing fear of making mistakes than your confidence level is very low. Fear of making mistakes in sales is a major demotivating factor. “Make mistakes and learn from them” that is the formula of success in sales. If you want to be a sales super star than you have to apply the above formula. Show me any sales super star who has succeeded without above formula and I will give up my tweeting habit.

Many sales guys ask me, “Lalit, what is the secret of success in sales?” There is not any secret you have to learn and you have to be updated according to new changes. Because every change whether in technology or whether in products it impacts sales directly. You can not live in yesterday’s method and expect to be a sales super star in today’s world. Every sales star always focus on upgrading, they always work according to new technologies.

Too many salesmen talk, talk and only talk. Avoid this mistake because if you are taking more then listening then you are offering too much information and opening your all sales secrets to customers. Try to avoid this overselling.

Don’t waste your time after closing the sales and. You can take referrals for future but don’t waste much time after closing the sales because you can lose your sale in process of being too smart.
Lack of preparation is another important mistake that you should avoid. Poor product knowledge can ruin your sales carrier but remember never do same old sales pitch to every prospect. Many sales persons especially medical representatives do same sales pitching to every prospects. You should prepare your sales pitch according to your prospects. To do this you should get proper knowledge of your customers.

In the end I would like to give you three magical words to all the sales people and these words will help you to achieve glorious success – Update, Update and Update.

Decision Making Tips for Leaders

Decision Making Tips for Leaders:

Can you imagine a leader who does not make decision?

No, you can not because leadership is not possible without decision making. A leader has to make decision and some times hard decision that's why he or she is a leader. Hence decision making is an important skill for leaders.

How to develop effective decision making skill?

Have you heard this great quote?

“There is no more miserable human being than one in whom nothing is habitual but indecision.” William James

This quote tells you how important is decision making for you. Some leaders always ask me, "Lalit, decision making is not easy for us because we have to make some hard decisions and many times we don't have proper analytical resources for decision making and we have to make many decisions for first time. Please give us a great tip for decision making."

Yes, there is a great tip for you - The boldest decisions are the safest. Take bold decision like every great leader does.

Here are other tips -

1. Keep in mind a clear vision of the organization’s goals.

2. Your decision should be insightful.

3. Great decision always involve risks so avoid zero risk.

4. Analyse but beware of "analysis paralysis."

5. Listen to your gut.

6. Do proper research before making decision.

7. You should have a back-up plan if the decision is a major one.

What are the other tips?

Blue Ocean or Red Ocean

Blue Ocean or Red Ocean:

Are you in the blue ocean or red ocean?

Red Ocean Strategy: If you are competing like many businesses in the existing market then you are in the red ocean. In the red ocean, businesses focus on existing customers and try to exploit existing demand. People of the red ocean give greater value to customers at a higher price and reasonable value to customers at a lower price. In this ocean you have two choices to beat the competition – either differentiate your product or lower your cost. This strategy is about brand management.

Blue Ocean Strategy: If you creating a new and uncontested market then you are in the blue ocean
In this strategy, you explore a new market hence competition becomes irrelevant. In the blue ocean, businesses focus on non-existing customers. People of the blue ocean create new demand and give greater value to customers at a lower price. This strategy is about brand creation.

People always ask me which strategy is better?

This is a very tough question because every strategy has its own advantages and disadvantages.
If you are able to take the maximum risk, if you are ready to face a new challenge because it is not easy for you to create a new market, if you want limitless growth, if you can innovate, if you don’t want to compete with each other in the existing market, if you are ready to completely explore new market if you are not boring kind of person and love thrilling adventures and want to do something different than go for blue ocean strategy.

If you want a safe game, easy entry and your objectives are only to earn money then go for the red ocean strategy.

In the end, I would say know what works and what does not work for you.