Kaufmann’s Capital Tips

1. Goal-Oriented: Track record of setting and achieving goals.
2. Self-Acceptance: Doesn’t take rejection personally.
3. Empathy: Knows how to listen.
4. Zeal: Has passion for what s/he is selling.
5. Education-Obsessed: Is a complete master of their offerings.
6. Friendliness: Knows people do business with people they like.
7. Doggedness: Knows how many NOs it takes to get one YES.
8. Hunger: Thrives on the thrill of the hunt.

1. You advertise a good price on a product that you don’t have in stock.
2. You don’t invest in training for your sales staff.
3. You deliver products that are damaged.
4. You deliver products that do not meet customers’ specifications.
5. Your commission program is not structured to motivate your sales staff to excel.
6. You micromanage each sale instead of giving sales people specific goals and enabling them to use their creativity to meet those goals.
7. You hold your staff responsible for events they do not have the authority to control.
8. You do not have or consistently promote a clear brand identity.
9. You do not solicit feedback from customers to ensure that you are selling what they want and not what you think they need.

1. Do you have good cash management?
2. Are you building cash?
3. Is your company’s financial condition improving, deteriorating or unchanged?
4. Do you have timely and accurate financial information to review?
5. Is the data you have sufficient to make good decisions?
6. Do you need more financial data than what you currently receive?
7. Do you actually review all of the financial data you receive each month?
8. Do you regularly talk with suppliers about obtaining better prices or terms?
9. Are your internal financial controls adequate? How do you know? Do you review them regularly?
10. Is your pricing appropriate and competitive?
11. Is every product line or service offering profitable?
12. Can you identify which customers meet or exceed your minimum profitability requirements?
13. What do you do to minimize the amount of cash tied up in receivables and inventory?
14. Do you plan for increases in, or additions to, your facilities, capital equipment and personnel?

1. Debtor threatens a dispute.
2. Debtor makes excuses about cash flow problems.
3. Debtor frequently changes his address.
4. Debtor displays emotional hostility or indifference.
5. Debtor makes unusually large product purchases.
6. Debtor pays with post-dated checks.
7. Debtor is never available to speak to you.
8. Debtor refuses to provide financial information.
9. Debtor makes unauthorized returns of product.
10. Debtor does not answer collection calls.
11. Debtor stops making payments on time
12. Debtor starts an erratic and selective pattern of payment.
13. Debtor does not honor, or complains about, agreed-upon payment terms.

1. Identify the key people or talent groups you need for your strategy to work.
2. Adopt the practice of questioning and challenging the analyses and findings of groups that have worked in an area for a long time.
3. Think like your competitors. If you were to compete against you, what would you do?
4. Determine how the industries of your customers are changing and what impact that has on your strategy.
5. Identify the best customers in your industry. Are these your customers? If they are, why? If not, why not?
6. Check any tendency you and your colleagues have to talk disparagingly about competitors. Seek instead to identify what makes them good.
7. Identify assumptions that underlie the business model of your industry and figure out how the model would change—or is changing—should those assumptions change.
8. Anticipate how your competitors will respond to your strategic moves before you make any move in the marketplace.
9. Identify any technological advances in your industry that you need to implement to ensure strategic advantage.
10. Develop a plan to overcome a main weakness of your area that keeps you from adequatly addressing a strategic issue.
11. Read industry and tecnical publications looking for changes or trends that indicate new opportunities to meet customer needs.

Source: Successful Manager’s Handbook.