Archives for March 2016
Low Performers add to your sense of Overwhelm
Is Eeyore Overwhelming You, too?
When Iâm not writing blogs for the Viral Solutions team, Iâm running a small hospital foundation and working with the hospital CEO on a handful of special projects. Itâs a great life!
I didnât start my career in healthcare by design, I stumbled into it at the recommendation of a good friend â and then I keep returning to it. Itâs a tough industry â and a vitally important one. Each day working in healthcare gives me an opportunity to have an impact on something larger than myself. Itâs that impact that gets me up and going every morning.
Healthcare has some real challenges in front of it. Luckily, there are some experts out there who specialize in addressing the issues that keep CEOâs and their teams up at night.
One of the experts in improving organizational culture to improve healthcare performance is a fellow by the name of Quint Studer. You know heâs a big deal, because when his company, The Studer Group, became a division of a larger consulting company, they kept the name when Mr. Studer retired.
Lots of hospitals have been âStuderized.â One of The Studer Groupâs tools that Iâve become a big fan of is their matrix of High, Medium, and Low performers. The matrix lays out the Definition, Results, Professionalism, Teamwork, Knowledge & Competence, Communication and Safety Awareness of each Performer group.
In my last blog, I wrote about the need for you to make sure you have enough assets on your team to build your business.
When we were first starting off, our journey would have been so much easier if we had someone there to give us guidance, knowledge or even simple encouragement. This is why we dedicate ourselves to helping small business owners stay motivated and achieve all of their business goals. We believe that your needs should always come first, and our âgive firstâ mentality of customer service ensures that you will always have a dedicated team of small business professionals helping you find success. At Viral Solutions, we help overwhelmed small business owners duplicate themselves â so business can be fun again.
In this blog, weâre going to highlight how to identify Low Performers using the Studer Groupâs Definition. Low Performers add to your sense of Overwhelm. Not dealing with them makes it even worse.
Do you think you might have a Low Performer on your team? Here are some their characteristics:
- They tell you whatâs wrong â in a negative way. They sound a little like Winnie the Poohâs Eeyore. âOh, no, we canât do that. We tried that before. It never works.â
- When they talk with others on your team, your clients, their connections, they are critical of you as the leader of your company. âI wish we could make that change, but the boss just isnât willing to consider what you need.â
- They think they could do a better job running your company and blame you for its problems. Rather than embracing making any necessary improvements with a hearty âwe can do it,â the Low Performer will decry what âthey are making me do.â
- Rather than sharing concerns directly with you, you hear about it from someone else; or worse, never at all.
If you have a Low Performer on your team, they are adding to your sense of overwhelm. Big decisions are tougher to make, changes are more difficult to implement, and your service delivery is suffering. Talk about Overwhelm!
In the next blog, letâs chat about coaching your Low Performers upâŠorâŠ.out.
If youâve got a Low Performer story to share, shoot me an email ([email protected]).
Until next time!
Copyright 2016 Viral Solutions LLC
by Deirdre Gruendler
Deirdre is a ghost writer, executive leader, just-can't-leave-it-aloner, builder, Midwesterner and all around improver of things major and minor. Deirdre has worked in nonprofits, for-profits and ‘why can't we make-a-profits‘ large and small. Trained in relationship development, executive coaching, landscape architecture and the perfect buttercream (see how all that applies?), Deirdre excels when she's working on bringing clarity to big messy problems and turning confusion into focused direction. Hobbies that have had little to no business return (yet) include biking, French horn playing, jewelry making and travel. Deirdre holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.
We help overwhelmed small business owners duplicate themselves – so business can be fun again.
Viral Solutions LLC is a Digital Marketer Certified Partner, an Infusionsoft Certified Consultant, a Google Partner – Certified in AdWords.
Tips for Staying Productive at the End of the Work Day
Itâs that time of day: your clock is telling you thereâs any hour left before you head home, and your productivity is waning. Resist the urge to mentally call it quits for the day, and adopt some of our tips for maintaining focus.
These tricks will help you develop healthy, productive habits that will transform your last hour at work.
1. Tackle your email. About an hour and a half before you leave for the day, do a complete review of your inbox. Determine which messages
Viral Solutions has significant experience in the areas of sales, sales management and small to medium business management consulting. Our experience is spread across a wide variety of industries. This breadth of experience gives us the ability to adapt our services to fit the specific needs of your business, rather than forcing you to adapt to the services that we provide.
require a response before end of business, delete or archive ones that donât need a response, and move the other messages to a folder you know you will deal with later. Also take this time to finish any drafted emails you may have started and left unfinished. Lastly, close your inbox to avoid distraction. Youâll check it again before you leave, but for the next hour, close it. Youâve addressed what is most pressing for the time being.
2. Get up. Really, get up. Take a lap around the office, go get a snack, take a restroom break. This will help energize you and give you focus to get as much out of the last hour as possible. It will also clear your mind a little and give you a fresh perspective on the tasks at hand.
3. Get organized. Whatâs on the agenda for tomorrow? Use this time to review your to-do list. Are there any items that can be pushed? What is the highest priority? Rearrange your list if necessary, so that you are able to be efficient with your time the rest of the week. It also helps to remind yourself of any meetings or tasks tomorrow so you can gauge how busy your day will be.
4. Pick one small task and do it. Realistically, an hour isnât a tremendous amount of time to knock out a significant item on your task list. However, you can certainly get started on a high-priority item and that might make it easier to dive back into in the morning. Or, alternately, save your time-consuming task for morning and do a handful of small tasks tonight that will help clear your plate first thing tomorrow.
5. Do one last check. Lastly, open your email for the final time. Donât compose any new messages — you are merely using this time to see if there are any urgent messages you shouldnât miss. If not, shut down your computer and save the rest for tomorrow.
Copyright 2016 Viral Solutions LLC
We help overwhelmed small business owners duplicate themselves – so business can be fun again
Viral Solutions LLC is a Digital Marketer Certified Partner, an Infusionsoft Certified Consultant, a Google Partner – Certified in AdWords and a Mobit Certified Partner.
3 Tips for Balancing Family While Working From Home
There is a growing number of employees working from home these days. Many of those employees have families. Having a home office can be beneficial to oneâs well-being by cutting out the daily stress of a commute, or dealing with office gossip. But having a family at home while you are working can be tricky to balance.
Here are some helpful hints for focusing on work without neglecting your family.
We Believe: Your small business is the backbone of the economy. You require and deserve the best tools available. You deserve to work with a company that will not compromise your professional or personal ethics and integrity. You have a right to the best advice available, and we have a duty to provide that to you. We help overwhelmed small business owners duplicate themselves – so business can be fun again.
Find Ways to schedule work time and family time
When you are working from home, it can be tempting to work longer days because your desk is very close by and getting just one more task completed is very tempting. Working all the time can leave your family disgruntled. To avoid this, schedule regular work ours as if you were working at the office building. You could plan to work an extra hour or so a day because that time wouldâve been spent on your commute, but once you put in your hours shut down that computer and close the office door. Spend the rest of the day/evening being a positive influence on your family, helping with homework, play catch, or cook dinner. If you must get a few more hours in, consider working after the kids have gone to bed.
Donât be too proud to ask for help
Anyone working from home with small children knows the struggle. Toddlers are small, ferocious balls of energy that can drive you insane while conducting business. Sometimes you need a helping hand. You donât need to look far for the support you need. Discuss your problem with your husband or wife, see if theyâd be willing to go to work earlier so they can watch the children when they get home. Maybe there is a neighbor who is in a similar situation as you are or, at least, is at home with kids of the same age. If this is so, trade babysitting with them so that way both of you would have children free days to focus on work and be more productive.
Hire a nanny
If help from your partner or neighbors is out of the question, an alternative option is to hire a nanny. If hiring help fits your budget, it would be worth it in the long run. Being free to concentrate enables you to produce quality work and more of it. Hired help doesnât need to be permanent of course, and you might not need the nanny every day or all day for that matter. Your children will soon be at school, and you will be free for a typical eight-hour work day.
There is light at the end of the tunnel. Stay focused on your work during the day and leave it in the office so you can focus on your family in the evening. Follow these tips and you will achieve a healthy balance between work and family.
Copyright 2016 Viral Solutions LLC
by Rob Carpen
Rob is a content writer and editor, specializing in a variety of fields. He helps B2B and B2C clients with blogs, social media, press releases and web content that create more value for their marketing campaigns. He earned his Bachelor's Degree in Biology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He played Club Rugby at IUP for four years. He loves Rugby and recently attended the Rugby World Cup in Newcastle, England – New Zealand All Blacks v. Tonga Match. Rob is passionate about craft beer. He is transitioning his eight years of home brewing to earn his professional brewer certificate.
We help overwhelmed small business owners duplicate themselves – so business can be fun again.
Viral Solutions LLC is a Digital Marketer Certified Partner, an Infusionsoft Certified Consultant, a Google Partner – Certified in AdWords and a Mobit Certified Partner.
Customer Service – 3 Tips for Developing Your Wow Strategy
Creating a customer service strategy is one of the most important parts of running a business. Think about the last time you bought a product that didnât work. What did you do? You probably called or e-mailed the company that either made it or sold it to you. How did it go? If it went wrong, like often it does you spent an hour on hold, and probably told that if you want to return it, youâd have to pay for shipping. If it went smoothly, then it was your lucky day. Your call was answered promptly, and you got what you wanted – probably a refund or they are sending you a replacement free of charge.
Weâve all been through both the bad and the good customer service situations. Nobody likes long waits on the phone, and nobody likes paying for a faulty product. In todayâs world, there are usually many service providers or brands of products to choose from.
It is customer service that brings that customer back time and time again to the same company or service provider. Here are three tips to keep your customers coming back.
Our small business experts can consult or coach on a wide variety of important business topics, including sales optimization and management, sales training, automated relationship marketing, eMarketing, strategic planning and much more. Our thought process is very simple. First we seek to understand, before we seek to be understood. When the team at Viral Solutions brings their minds to your business, you are getting all of our collective experiences. We will not sugar coat the reasons behind our input. We will not withhold our best solutions. We will not limit our implementation strategies. We will tell you exactly how we see it. The results you experience will be the sum of your strategy, your defined target audience, your commitment to serve your customer and our process of delivery. That means we are an integral part of your team! Teach, Train, Mentor, Lead, Develop, Implement and bring Results.
Tip # 1: Think of customer service as one of your products
When you make a sale, you should also be âsellingâ customer service. In other words, give your buyer peace of mind that customer service will be there to answer questions, should they have any problems. This is especially needed in the tech world because not everyone buying the latest smart phone or 3D TV is tech savvy.
Tip # 2: Give them what they want
Let's face it, nobody likes wasting time on the phone listening to elevator music only to be finally answered by a rude support agent. Service should be provided promptly and politely. For this to happen, you must hire the right people and enough of them. To keep your customers coming back, handle all of their requests including shipping, and damage claims. Be sincere about their questions and complaints. Your goal should be that when the customer hangs up the phone, they can go about their day in peace, knowing they are well taken care of.
Tip # 3: Be consistent
Shoot for giving quality customer service to everyone, every time. You donât want to keep only one customer; you want to keep them all. Reliability is key. From my experience, Leupold Optics a rifle scope manufacturer offers a lifetime warranty and they back it up. My father has sent two of their products in for repairs. They were able to fix one of them, and they replaced the other that was beyond repair. Both the repair and the replacement scope were free of charge. I donât buy rifles often, but the next time I purchase one, a Leupold scope will be mounted on it.
Copyright 2016 Viral Solutions LLC
by Rob Carpen
Rob is a content writer and editor, specializing in a variety of fields. He helps B2B and B2C clients with blogs, social media, press releases and web content that create more value for their marketing campaigns. He earned his Bachelor's Degree in Biology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He played Club Rugby at IUP for four years. He loves Rugby and recently attended the Rugby World Cup in Newcastle, England – New Zealand All Blacks v. Tonga Match. Rob is passionate about craft beer. He is transitioning his eight years of home brewing to earn his professional brewer certificate.
We help overwhelmed small business owners duplicate themselves – so business can be fun again.
Viral Solutions LLC is a Digital Marketer Certified Partner, an Infusionsoft Certified Consultant, a Google Partner – Certified in AdWords and a Mobit Certified Partner.
Your Obsession can Lead to Limiting long-term Results
As we kicked off this blog series on dealing with Overwhelm, I asked the Viral Solutions Team to name off the top reason that their clients get overwhelmed.
One big reason they brought up was that we struggle to keep doing it all even when there is clearly more work to be accomplished than one person can handle.
As entrepreneurs, small business people, hobbyists, or inventors, itâs pretty common to get where you are by âhandling it allâ yourself. After all, who can do it better than me (er, you)? We all get obsessed with perfectionism; by doing it exactly 100% right, time after time.
Unfortunately, that kind of obsession can lead to limiting long-term results. Rather than building the team, we try to do it all ourselves. Rather than
Our small business experts can consult or coach on a wide variety of important business topics, including sales optimization and management, sales training, automated relationship marketing, eMarketing, strategic planning and much more. Our thought process is very simple. First we seek to understand, before we seek to be understood. When the team at Viral Solutions brings their minds to your business, you are getting all of our collective experiences. We will not sugar coat the reasons behind our input. We will not withhold our best solutions. We will not limit our implementation strategies. We will tell you exactly how we see it. The results you experience will be the sum of your strategy, your defined target audience, your commitment to serve your customer and our process of delivery. That means we are an integral part of your team!
investing in crucial resources like people, technology and systems, we just keep doing what weâve always been doing. Weâre doing more, working more hours, sacrificing more time with family and friends, spending less time in investing in ourselves. And then what happens next? Weâre trying to do too much â and suddenly we canât do any of it very well. Weâre over-committed and under-resourced. Itâs a lousy place to be.
Too much gets built on a base of knowing we are the only ones who can do it right, by getting by with what worked for us last year, and by holding off on making smart investments in our company.
So, whatâs a smart entrepreneur supposed to do?
Luckily, the solution is pretty straightforward: invest in the resources that will make a difference for your business.
As a Viral Solutions client, thatâs exactly what youâre doing right now. Youâre building your resources by expanding your team to include people who are passionately helping overwhelmed small business owners duplicate themselves.
What a great start!
So hereâs the task for you today: identify where else in your business do you need to duplicate yourself.
Letâs break it down. Here are three steps:
- Tomorrow, when you get back to business, what is the one thing that you must get done; but that you will procrastinate throughout the day? Write it down.
- Whatâs the one thing about your business that you know should be just a little better? Write it down.
- Email Thomas or Christine and tell them your answers. Youâll be amazed at how quickly they can help you sort through these pain points. They might not âbeâ the answer, but they can help point you in the right direction. They are just that good.
When youâre done, shoot me an email. Iâd love to know what you learned â and how the VS team was able to help you identify the resources you need.
Copyright 2016 Viral Solutions LLC
by Deirdre Gruendler
Deirdre is a ghost writer, executive leader, just-can't-leave-it-aloner, builder, Midwesterner and all around improver of things major and minor. Deirdre has worked in nonprofits, for-profits and ‘why can't we make-a-profits‘ large and small. Trained in relationship development, executive coaching, landscape architecture and the perfect buttercream (see how all that applies?), Deirdre excels when she's working on bringing clarity to big messy problems and turning confusion into focused direction. Hobbies that have had little to no business return (yet) include biking, French horn playing, jewelry making and travel. Deirdre holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.