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Keep in touch with what's going on around NELEA. We'll post the informative blogs on this page regularly.

Posted on Monday, June 22, 2009 at 12:42 PM

It’s the Order – Stupid

By David Smallman

The toughest part of running any business is finding time to do the two most important things, marketing and sales.

These two actions are not as many folks thing; one and the same. The skill sets required to do the two jobs are very different. Marketing is the art of understanding the existing and potential customer’s needs and working out how to bring into line the business to deliver these profitably. Fifty percent involves letting the customer know through both written and electronic means (lead generation) that the company can supply its customers needs and that the company is trustworthy (branding). The other fifty percent is marketing’s role in ensuring that the product is what the customer’s wants, when they want it and at the right price.

Whilst the sales role can often be seen as working against marketing it also requires two key, but different, abilities.

The first is to convert an opportunity into cash in the Bank through persuading a customer to purchase from you – and by extension the company - and second, and equally important, is acting as the customer advocate within the company to ensure that the company provides what is needed in order for the customer to meet their expectations.

It is often the second part of the statement above that companies find hardest to achieve. It has been said that “Best is the Enemy of good”. Frequently, whatever the product or service, companies want to differentiate themselves by provided “add-on’s”, “gizmos”, “twiddle bits” etc. Whilst this lifts the offer to Excellent (or best) it adds cost, through time or materials, that are beyond the requirements of the customer to meet their needs and expectations. Good enough should not be considered inferior if the customer’s expectations are met.

It is the crossing point between marketing and sales - where marketing is striving to reach an understanding of what customers want, at what price, and where sale’s is work out how to get them to actually pay for it - that is crucial and the hardest to manage.

Time and again in companies forget that the most important principle in any business is to get the order in before the competition does, ensuring that everybody keeps their job and can collect their wages. Remember “…its not how far you finish in front what is important is that you finish first……” There are many examples, what ever your interest, of the winner not always being the favorite. For favorite read - the greatest talent, best equipped, most sophisticated, on top form, unbeatable etc.

It is a Team effort, however small the Team, that gets the winner over the line first. No one part of the company, nor for that matter no one person, should be allowed to have dominance over the ultimate aim of taking an order and turning that order into the money that pays the home loan puts food on the table and provides for further capital on which to build and expand the business.

So the next time you are in a company meeting, however small the company might be, ask yourself “Does this discussion move the company any nearer ensuring that what’s on offer is what the customer’s wants, when they want it and at the right price?” and “Does this help get the order and put the money in the Bank?

If you can’t answer yes to both the above then you should question whether your time might be better spent elsewhere.

Posted on Monday, June 22, 2009 at 12:39 PM

David Smallman extends talent to NELEA

For the last 42 years David Smallman has been involved in international business development and contract negotiation for corporations and local governments, during this time he has lived in Canada, France and the USA and travelled on business to some 55 countries. In 1990, encouraged by some of the current Team members, European political contacts and associates in international financing, he created Pathfinder Team Consulting Ltd to bring together people of experience to provide truly independent advice. Since then the Team have worked in over 40 countries on a variety of projects advising companies and governmental bodies; including the restoration of a railroad to developing long term economic development strategies for US local and state governments. His firm currently acts as the European representative for Louisiana Economic Development.

David is a regular speaker on both sides of the Atlantic at business events where he is known for his extempore style of presentation on how to succeed in international business. He is member of the editorial Board of International Journal of Liability and Scientific Enquiry for whom he contributes articles on worldwide business development.

Tana Trichel, President/CEO of the Northeast Louisiana Economic Alliance stated, “We have been privileged to have David work with us on exporting and European business development. He is contracted to Louisiana by Louisiana Economic Development. His counsel and expertise had been consistently valuable. We are pleased to introduce him to the businesses in our region.”

David F Smallman can be contacted at dsmallman@pathfinder-consulting.com. Telephone numbers include direct-line +44 (0)1763 269671, (225) 342-5388 or his mobile at (865) 360-4388.

Posted on Thursday, April 30, 2009 at 2:20 PM

Trichel to speak for the Bastrop/Morehouse Chamber of Commerce

By Dee Tubbs

Tue Apr 28, 2009, 06:00 AM CDT

The Northeast La. Economic Alliance President/CEO, Tana Trichel, will speak at the Visitor Center at 2 p.m. April 30, as the second in a series of guest speakers for the Bastrop/Morehouse Chamber of Commerce. The meeting is free and open to the public. Trichell will speak about the business advantages of the renewal community zone and also about any updates on state business incentives for the area.

Go to http://www.bastropenterprise.com/news/x126915310/Trichel-to-speak-Thursday and get full story.

Posted on Wednesday, April 29, 2009 at 10:35 AM

Toyota Said to Weigh Reorganizing U.S. Operations

By MICHELINE MAYNARD

Published: April 9, 2009

DETROIT — The Toyota Motor Company is exploring a reorganization of its North American operations that would put its sales, engineering and manufacturing operations under one executive, people with direct knowledge of the plan said Thursday.

The new organization, which has not yet been completed, may be led by a returning executive, Yoshimi Inaba, who spent years in the United States and was once considered a candidate to become Toyota’s president, the equivalent of chief executive.

Detroit Would Prefer Any Auto Bankruptcy to Be Handled Locally

By JONATHAN D. GLATER and MICHELINE MAYNARD

Published: April 26, 2009

Detroit, which could lose an automaker to bankruptcy, hopes to console itself with a big piece of the legal action.

The bankruptcy court in the Motor City is making itself as attractive as possible should General Motors or Chrysler file for Chapter 11 protection, and it appears to be in the running.

NELEA teams up with Micheline Maynard

Recently Tana Trichel, President/CEO dined with Micheline Maynard. Ms. Maynard was invited to allow Northeast Louisiana Economic Alliance to post an article. Ms. Maynard has three published books, a fourth soon to come out in the fall of 2009.

Micheline Maynard is a senior business correspondent for The New York Times and is the Detroit Bureau Chief, covering the automotive and airline industry. She also writes The Prius Diary on the Times' new blog, Green, Inc., telling of her conversion from an S.U.V. to a hybrid-electric car. She is the author of The End of Detroit: How the Big Three Lost Their Grip on the American Car Market, which was published in 2003. She has written two other books and is at work on her fourth, which will be published in 2009.

2009 Louisiana Heroine Awards

The Northeast Louisiana Economic Alliance congratulates Ms. Vicki Carpenter of Keep Morehouse Beautiful for her recent selection as a winner in the 2009 Louisiana Heroine Awards. This award is presented by the Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations (LANO).

Find out more about the Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations here.

Who we are

Northeast Louisiana Economic Alliance is a private membership, not-for-profit corporation utilizing local, state, federal and private resources and programs to enhance the available economic elements present in our region to promote and grow.

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What we do

We provide technical assistance, loan programs, technical communication, education and preside as the Coordinating Responsible Authority for the Northern and Central Renewal Communities.

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