Business Consultants – How They Help Your Company

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Most businesses could greatly benefit from a business consultant but most business owners usually have to run into a serious problem before they recognise the need for one. A problem may have arisen in the business through expansion or having to take on more staff. Any significant shift in the working environment will greatly magnify difficulties that most likely already existed.

There are other reasons why business owners are reluctant to use business consultants. They may fear losing control or being asked to implement strategies they don’t like. They may even fear criticism or worry about running up huge fees.

However, good business consultants are used to dealing with all these common concerns. They should know how to handle people as well as steer a business in the right direction. They know the trust and full co-operation of all personnel have to be gained to be successful.

By retaining a good business consultant, an owner should expect to benefit in the following ways:

o Increased clarity – the business consultant should be able to identify clearly where the business currently stands and the way forward

o Increased focus – as an attainable plan of action is developed with practical paths to each goal

o Better time management – more time spent productively and time wasting activities eliminated

o Increased commitment – as personnel are deployed more satisfactorily

o Improved communication – for employees and clients

o Better co-operation – with all members of the business feeling valued

o Increase in retention – as staff value their employer’s business and their place in it

o Less stress – as issues are faced and dealt with

Care needs to be taken when choosing a business consultant. Checks should be made on references, credentials and personality. If the owner or staff cannot get on with them on a personal level, it simply won’t work.

Des Vadgama is a leading expert on fast business growth and boosting profits by 50% or more.

Arbonne Consultant Truth – The Truth About Succeeding As an Arbonne Consultant

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Trying to grow your business as an Arbonne consultant can be frustrating and a hassle. Especially when you have done everything your upline told you to do and it didn’t work. So, what I’m going to do is share with you the Arbonne consultant truth and how to grow your downline.

That way, you will know how to be successful in your Arbonne business.

Growing a business is simple. The reason you are being told to make a list of everyone you know is because that’s the only way most companies know how to grow a network marketing business. To be honest, it doesn’t work anymore.

So, the truth about succeeding as an Arbonne consultant is this. You have to find the right people or your target market. This will be people who have a need for what you have to offer. A good example would be someone who cares about their skin.

People who care about their skin usually buy certain soaps and lotions. This will be one type of person who will join your business.

Another type is people who are serious about growing a home business. I’m not talking about tire kickers. I mean people who are serious and willing to put effort into growing a downline.

The next thing you have to do is understand the products of Arbonne. The truth is, you need to know how the products will help people. I know you probably want some business builders, but the consumers or people who are buying products is what will help you grow your downline.

You will also need an effective system in place to grow your downline. This will not only help you, but also your downline.

This is the Arbonne consultant truth. If you are serious about growing your business, you should do something about it. This is the perfect time for you to succeed as an Arbonne consultant.

PEO Consulting Services

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PEOs or professional employer organizations serve small and medium-sized businesses, helping them outsource the giant task of managing human resources. This involves HR management, administering employee benefits, workers’ compensation, managing payroll processing tasks, recruiting and selecting staff, maintaining regulatory and government compliance, and managing risks. PEO consulting services are also offered by professional employer organizations where they only provide guidance on the various HR responsibilities mentioned above.

PEO consultancy services are an indispensable requirement of any business. Strict regulations governing employee relations have made HR management an elaborate and resource consuming affair for businesses. Though it may not directly contribute to profit making, businesses need to be accurate and up-to-date in HR administration, especially as failure to do this could result in legal action. Businesses therefore require PEO consultancy services for the smooth management of human resources and all its aspects.

Professional employer organizations offer expert guidance to handle the HR tasks. In most cases PEOs take over the entire responsibility of recruiting and selecting employees, administering their benefits, managing risks, and ensuring regulatory compliance while the client company has total control over the employees.

Companies generally form partnerships with professional employer organizations to take over the entire HR responsibilities or require the professional employer organizations to offer assistance in only some of the HR responsibilities, such as in recruitment and selection of candidates or in benefits administration and workers’ compensation. Client companies sometimes seek PEO consultancy services only to offer them expert guidance in various aspects of HR administration.

Achieving That Professional Look With the Help of an Image Consultant

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How many of us have fallen victim to the fashion nightmare we call “casual Fridays”? A lot of people just want to make a good impression on our boss, some of us want to look good for their peers, and some want to look good in front of their special someone. For most people they say it’s too vain to be over conscious of our outward appearance, but in reality it really does count to make a good impression on people. That’s why there are specialists who take care of this for other people–they are called image consultants.

Today, there are image consultants for working professionals, for students, for homemakers and other people. It is a little sad that people are more concerned of the physical attributes of others than their character. But the truth is we are frequently judged by our appearances, our image is the one thing that people have to make them form their opinion of other people.

In the earlier days, people always looked for help in the pages of magazines and catalogs for the look that they wanted. One of the things that made it hard for people to really carry the look well is that the cuts and the style that it was fitted for the person in the picture and not for the person reading the magazine.

More than anyone else the working professional suffers this dilemma most often because of the different kinds of trends and fads that is served to them. The three piece business suit has been a staple for men and sometimes even for women. But because the look has been around for a long time there are people who experiment and try out different combinations. It alright and some even succeed in the results that they came up with but for majority of the people the look they created became very disastrous and it causes trauma that hinders these people from ever doing it again.

A good suggestion that these people could look into is to seek the help of a fashion professional. These people are called image consultants, they make enrich our personal style and at the same time make us confident and making bold decisions about our wardrobe experiments.

Usually an image consultant for working professional looks beyond the closet and looks in to the possibilities that their clients can have. As an image consultant for professionals, one must remember what they are dressing their clients for. Image consultants should consider the industry that their clients are working for, they should also take into consideration the position of their client in the company, another factor to consider is age and another is the occasion or the event they will use it for.

Because of these things they have to consider it would be wise for the image consultant to have a total makeover of the person’s lifestyle and wardrobe. The makeover usually starts with the person’s confidence. The person should be able to be at ease with their body no matter how it looks like. Image is more than what you look like, it’s also how you feel about yourself. An image consultant for working professionals should take time to understand the personal style that their client wants and the image they want to project. In return, the client should try their very best to cooperate and do what needs to be done to make the makeover a success.

Women Branding With the Help of an Image Consultant

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Makeovers are one of the most “in” thing nowadays. From women homemakers, to bachelor yuppies, to kids that have no sense of style and aging men who are awkwardly dressed for their ages-makeovers seem to define how a person is. Because of this rampant need to consult experts on the way that people look even image consultants have different specialization.

But, the biggest chuck of the society that image consultants cater to, are the women. Maybe because it is innate for women to be conscious about the way they look especially when they appear in public. Image consultants-especially for working women that are professional-are very important because these people do not only monitor the overall lifestyle and also their lives.

Among the kinds of people that are in need of help through makeovers usually those women who don’t have the time to take care of their appearance due to lack of time such as working moms and stay home mothers. The reason for this that these people are some of the hardest working people on the planet and the people with the least time on their hands to worry about the way they look.

But why is it important for these people to look good? For women homemakers, sometimes it’s a little too much if they put on makeup and dress fabulous. But the truth is that not because they are stay home moms they should forget about looking good. Image consultants that focus on stay home moms’ image have a few things to consider which include the age of the person and the type of lifestyle that they have.

For stay home moms, the major components that an image consultant should pay attention to include clothing, including color and “line” or style of garments; accessories from head to toe; hair; and makeup.

When an image consultant audits a woman’s closet they should look in to these things so that they could build the woman that they want to build. In fact they don’t need to build from the ground up. They could start from finding the right clothes that they could still use and make sure that they look good with the style and the brand that they would want to see.

Women branding

Going back to branding yourself, branding means having a personal style that’s distinctly your own and that could stand out among other styles. It is important to have a personal brand because it is what makes us different from another person.

Branding is like having a name that would stick and people would remember. How many times has this situation happened to you? You are in a party and you keep mingling among the guests and you are meeting a lot of people. After the party, you accidentally bump into one of the people you happened to meet there. You say hi and the person acknowledges you but they can’t remember your name or it’s the other way around. Branding is important because it makes people remember who you are. It’s like when you say Marilyn Monroe, you will immediately remember the mole and the white dress or when you say Elvis Presley, the sideburns and the tassels come in to mind. Now that ‘s branding.

When you brand yourself, you put your signature on the things that you wear and tell other people that this is you. Branding doesn’t have to be expensive clothes and designer products. When you brand yourself, you need to take into consideration the image that you want to portray.

Women’s image consultants have their hands full all the time with the different types of women they have to work with. But one thing is for sure when it comes to them-nothing is impossible.

AdWords Consultant – Can You Afford the Fees?

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I am going to show you how you can have a personal AdWords consultant that you can afford. Everybody and their grandmother wants to get into the Google AdWords affiliate business. There are scores of books on the internet that describe how simple it is to “Make Enormous Sums of Money with 15 Minutes of Work Each Day and From Then on Your Business is on Auto-Pilot”. Nothing could be further from the truth! Many people try AdWords affiliate advertising and have one failed campaign after another. They burn a hole in their advertising pockets and give up. What should they do?

One alternative is to contact a professional Google AdWords Consultant. This may be an effective strategy for an existing business that is making a profit but most professional AdWords consultants charge $100 to $250 an hour for a consultation on existing campaigns. To set up a new account prices can range between $1000 to $2500 plus ongoing monthly fees. This can be a good investment in the long run for someone who is more concerned with his or her core business than learning the AdWords business. But if you are interested in learning the AdWords affiliate business this simply won’t due. Some of the consultants will give Pay Per Click coaching but at $100 to $250 an hour the fees are outrageous.

In the brick and mortar world a businessperson can get involved with local organizations of retired businesspersons and get one on one advice. Many of these programs

Phantom Problems for Consultants: Business Problems Only In Your Mind

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Today we are going to talk about phantom problems. These are problems you believe exist, but don’t. I get this a lot from my clients and you may have a similar issue. You believe you have a specific understanding of the challenge your business faces and you want an answer… now. You want a silver bullet o r magic solution that immediately resolves it. If this sounds familiar, let me suggest that what you believe is the problem isn’t the problem at all. Some common examples will help explain what I mean.

I need a better time management solution. You are looking for a calendaring system, list management system, appointment scheduling system, a new app or a new website that will help manage your behavior or time management. The truth is, this is not really what you need.

It’s not about time management… it’s about priorities. Certain things are more important than other things. For example, how important is breathing to you? What is more important to you than breathing? Well then, by definition everything else is second to breathing. Additionally, how important is eating to you? If breathing is first and eating is second, then all the business tasks are third. If we keep thinking this way and take a look at your consulting business, certain tasks are as important as breathing and eating. That means every other task must come after these. Once you set your priorities, it’s easier to figure out where your time should be spent.

It’s not about time management… it’s about clarity. You have to be clear about what is important to your business and what isn’t. That means you have to separate your thoughts, ideas and strategies; look at them individually and figure out which are most important and mean the most to your business. Ask yourself, “Do I truly understand each element of the problem?” If you are not clear on what the issue is, you are doomed to solving the wrong problem over and over.

It’s not about time management… it’s about panic. You create to-do lists that are so long they intimidate you. You see how much you have to do and it creates panic, anxiety, and stress. You have to flip that. You must be able to look at your to-do list and not be intimidated by its length or what’s on it. As you develop the discipline to look at your tasks in a different way, the scary and uncomfortable emotions will subside.

I need cash, now! The second major point that my clients come to me with quite often is “I need cash, now! I need customers, now! I need money!” I suggest to you that it’s not about the money. For example, what will you do between today and the day when the money arrives? Whatever you do, it has to be something healthy. How do you know your new money is going be spent any differently than your previous money? If you know you made a mistake in the past, how do you make better decisions moving forward? You have to think hard about it. Also, how much money do you really need? How many clients and engagements do you really need? Until you are clear about your need, any new money that comes in the business is likely to be spent just as poorly as the old money.

I can’t trust my employees. Another common discussion I get from my clients is, “My employees don’t do good work. This is a very limited belief about your current employees. You may say, “John Brown is a jerk and nobody likes him.” That may be true, but what is also true is that you hired him! Maybe it is time to let him go. If John Brown is that unhealthy to the environment, he doesn’t belong. The same is true for known underperformers. You need to let them go if you can’t train them to be better. The point is, don’t let your business be subject to a mistake that was made from a hiring perspective. You can fix it!

The real issue is your perspective on the problem. You don’t have an issue with your time, money, or employees. It’s your perspective on these things that has you intimidated. For example, you may be too close to the issue. When you stand too close to an issue you are able to see all the minor details, but you can’t get a wide enough perspective make major business decisions. Talk to an expert, consultant, or coach to provide some feedback and be a mirror to you. When you fully embrace the appropriate perspective you can prioritize the issues that really deserve your attention.

These are all examples of phantom problems. These are problems you believe exist, but don’t. If you as a leader can achieve a different perspective on your own company, you can solve problems more quickly. Push for a clear perspective on the root cause and commit to the behaviors that will resolve the issue. Think hard today about what it is that’s keeping your company from growing. Think about what that real problem is, get help if you need it, and grow your business, like you should.

Recruitment Consultant Training: The 1 Thing To Focus on To Accelerate Your Performance In 2013

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It’s January and time to focus on your recruitment consultant training. The Christmas decorations are down, maybe for some of us our weight is up, and our motivation is generally higher than usual. This then often results in our thoughts turning to what is possible in 2013.

The first few weeks of any new year should be a bumper time for recruitment companies. More people than ever are looking for a career change at the start of a new year. This is when the best candidates start to surface. A quick look on the Google search engine and you will notice that the number of searches for recruitment companies and recruitment agencies double in relation to December.

The extended holiday break especially in the UK fuels people to evaluate their careers and what else might be on offer. As recruiters we all know that the high performers are in demand in any industry, recession or no recession. The challenge is finding them in the first place so that it is your recruitment agency and not someone else’s that places them. Are you and your team ready to make the most of this opportunity? Here is the most important area to focus on with your recruitment consultants to get the year off to an awesome start. Planning! To be accurate sales planning

Sales’ planning is something that needs to be taught to many recruitment consultants no matter how experienced they are. Having a focused plan with a list of key activities is often the difference between success and failure. In the present economy just ‘winging it’ does not work anymore. Make sure your consultants know what to include in a good plan. A corny saying I know and yet hitting the ground running in January will set the trajectory for any recruiter to hit their billings throughout the year. Here are some ideas that you can share with them. They may or may not have the skills to deliver on all of these and this is where your training for recruitment consultants comes in.

First off they need to plan their time around the activities that will give them the best results. For instance past candidates that they have knowledge of need to be contacted. This needs to be scheduled into a daily plan. Consistency is the key here. Any consultant that takes consistent action on this one activity alone will come up with the goods. January is an excellent time to pick up the phone and check where your candidates are at. As I mentioned earlier Christmas is quite a time of reflection for many people. Use this to your advantage. As part of sales planning teach your consultants to think of what they are going to do and importantly how they are going to do it. Each call to a prospective candidate should be thought through. What questions need to be asked? What is important to the candidate? What is their ideal job and with which employer? Do you have anything similar that might just persuade them to go for the interview?

Just taking time on planning this interaction with a candidate will significantly enhance the interaction and likely hood that they will want your recruitment company to place them and not somebody else’s.

Strategic Planning Consulting – Three Reasons it Might Be Right For You

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Strategic planning is used to determine where a company wants to go, how it plans to get there, and how to recognize when the goals have been met. There are many different approaches that can be taken. In some cases a goals-based plan is most helpful, while in other cases there may be more of a need for an issues-based or even scenario-based approach. In many cases, a corporations strategic planners may already have a good idea of what needs to go into the plan. However, in other cases it can be helpful to leverage the assistance of an experienced strategic planning consultant. Here are three reasons why a strategic planning consulting might be right for your company.

Inexperience With Strategic Planning

If this is the first time your organization has conducted a big strategic change, it is likely that some assistance could be helpful. Although you might know the details of your business and goals, a consultant with strategic planning experience will be able to help you develop a workable plan that will help you achieve them. By acting as the facilitator, the consultant will be able to work with your planning team to achieve the best possible results.

Leveraging an Outside Viewpoint

In some cases, the leaders of a corporation may be too close to the issues or too intimately involved with the company to provide an objective outlook. Working with a senior consultant can provide a fresh objective approach to the issues at hand.

Leveling the Playing Field

Working with a consultant can also be helpful when there are many different personal opinions within the company in regards to the proper course of action. Those inside the organization might be hesitant to express their opinions or fully participate in the planning when an inside facilitator is used. By using a consultant as the planning facilitator, everyone on the team can feel free to participate.

How to Select an Information Technology Consultant for your Business

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Choosing the right information technology consultant for your business can be a critical business decision. The computer and network support company you choose directly impacts your productivity, your flexibility, and even your bottom line. Technology plays an integral role in today’s business world. Blackberries, laptops, email and instant messenger have all become tools of the trade when communicating with clients. But what happens when your email goes down? Or when you can’t connect to the internet to collect time-sensitive data for a customer? The benefits of technology can come at a price, and it is times like these when businesses, especially smaller companies, need a reliable IT partner who can reduce downtime. You may think the number one criteria when selecting an information technology consultant should be expertise. Although expertise is definitely a deciding factor, a potential computer and network support company’s customer service approach should be considered closely as well. After all, what good is an expert when you can’t get in touch with him to fix your critical IT issues?

The Difference Between an IT Partner and a Vendor

It may seem like semantics, but there is a real difference between a network support company that signs on to be your IT partner and an information technology consultant that is just another vendor selling applications and services. An IT partner should have a customer service model that aligns with the long-term goals of its clients and is focused on helping to grow clients’ businesses.

Many computer and network support companies’ approach to customer service leaves something to be desired. You call to schedule an on-site visit because your network is having issues, and it is slowing your turn-around time down to a snail’s pace. You get a call back four hours later from an employee that you have never spoken with before. They can come, but it will have to be tomorrow or possibly Monday, because all of their guys are working on a network issue at a major law firm. To these vendors, your company is just another small fish in a sea of bigger clients.

To an information technology consultant that is a true partner, your business, whether large or small, is their business. A network support company that take the partner approach does not take technical issues lightly because they understand that IT can make or break a company. A partner takes the time to get to know the ins and outs of your business from day one. They understand what your company needs, from a technological perspective, to be successful, and they will not only provide that, but also offer advice on how to use technology to grow your business. Overall, this type of information technology consultant provides much more than services – they act as an extension of your business.

Signs of a Dependable Computer and Network Support Company

When searching for the right computer and network support company, you should keep an eye out for some tell-tale signs that will provide insight into whether the partner you are considering is a good fit for your company. First, ask the following questions when researching potential partners:

  • Will my company be assigned one individual who will act as our primary information technology consultant? If the potential computer and network support company says no, then there is a good chance that you will be talking to someone different every time you call in with an issue. This can get tricky because when more than one person is responsible for your account, your requests can slip through the cracks. Also, the blame game will likely occur with this scenario – “I thought Bob said that he was going to call you back.”
  • Can you tell me about your escalation process when dealing with client issues? This is an essential question because some issues are more time-sensitive than others and, if your information technology consultant is unavailable, you need to know what back-up plan measures are in place to expedite resolution of your issues.
  • Will my IT contact be able to break down technical jargon into something I can understand? Most of us are not as technically savvy as our IT consultants – after all, that is why we hired them! There is nothing worse than paying top dollar for technical expertise but not being able to understand a word the expert says. And, some consultants come off as down right egotistical when they fail to notice that you are lost as they are describing your network infrastructure. A good information technology consultant has the technical smarts but knows how to communicate so that even the least technically savvy person in the group can follow.

Use your instincts – you can usually glean a lot from your first conversation with a potential IT and network support company. If your questions seem to stump them or, if they act as if they are hurried, expect more of the same behavior in the future. A network support company whose focus is on partnership will likely play an integral role in achieving your company’s long-term goals. That is why it is essential to treat the research and selection process as if you are hiring on a full-time employee.

Conclusion

There are many factors to consider when searching for the right information technology consultant. The selection process will be unique to a certain extent for each company, but asking key questions about the potential computer and network support company’s service should help single out the best candidates. Most companies will agree that a blend of expertise and a dependable customer service model make for a good IT partner.