Xigaware

Many people in affiliate programs seem to think that once the sale is made, their work is done. Affiliate Programs are highly dependent upon developing a motivated and knowledgeable downline. The initial sale is not the end of your involvement, rather it is the beginning of a longer process of coaching and team-building.

People joining affiliate programs tend to have big dreams, but sometimes they fail anyway.

Reasons Why People Fail to Become Successful Affiliates:

There are three main reasons why people fail to adapt to change, especially technological change:

1. Lack of Skills
2. Lack of Knowledge
3. Fear

Adopt the “Coach” Role & Mindset:

If you adopt the mindset of a “Coach,” you can dramatically improve your Downline’s performance along all three lines.

When someone joins an affiliate program there is generally a fairly big learning curve to overcome – new product(s) such as the just-released MaxPro System, new technology, and virtual relationships, all of which are especially problematic if your new recruit is a novice in the world of internet marketing (or marketing in general).  There will be a whole new language to learn, new tools and techniques to master, not to mention becoming an expert on the product they will be marketing.

The extensive learning curve can be very frustrating to your new recruits, so help them.  In fact, it can become so frustrating that many of these new affiliates will simply drift away, and never do anything to add to your bottom line.

Wouldn’t you be a lot better off to spend a little time with your new Downline members helping them to get off to a good start.  Take the initiative to help your recruits learn about your products, technical support and other resources available to them.

Chances are very good that you’ll also need to spend some time helping them learn how to market the product in this new Web 2.0 internet world of Blogs and Social Networks, which are unfamiliar to many.

Don’t just sit around waiting for your downline to contact you for help, take the initiative and offer them help, especially at the beginning of your relationship with them.  Take the initiative to help your new recruits overcome their fear and buyer’s remorse.

Coaching is easier than you might think – you just need a positive attitude and a desire to build up your team members coupled with initiative and action on your part.  The small investment of your time to coach your team will pay you big dividends.

One very good starting place for securing all the rest of the understanding about internet marketing that they will need is to have them sign up for the Online Success for Beginners course.

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The fact that you are reading this says that you, an influencer – salesman, business coach, entrepreneur, business owner, or leader – are probably NOT in the category of ‘no ownership,’ meaning you don’t take any responsibility for the outcomes of your choices. That leaves two options: ‘Some responsibility’ or ‘total responsibility.’

Most of us have been trained to take only “some ownership” over our results. Notice that whenever a divisive political, economic or social issue crops up, people are quick to place blame. But remember, blame is a low intelligence concept.

In the 1950’s, Earl Nightingale said, “To be successful, we must look at what everybody else is doing and consider doing the opposite.” Look at people who blame others. Look at those who blame the economy. Look at people who blame their product, their circumstances, their family, their history, their lack of talent, the weather, Lindsey Lohan and everything else they can think up, for bad consequences.

Consider choosing to do the reverse. Consider joining the few who really do choose to take total ownership over their results. You will be given the wealth that the many who only take “some ownership” will never find. Be willing to own ALL your consequences, good and bad. Great sales people succeed by consciously designing their messages and when they fail, they convert objection and rejection into the perfect opportunity to redesign their message. They own the result.

Be willing to own ALL the results of your team, as a leader, good and bad. Effective leaders look across the hall when things go well and say “you did it” and look inside when things don’t go well and tell themselves “I’m responsible for it.” They own the result, especially when things go poorly. Bottom line, as my good friend Hal Elrod (also a contributor to my book Cutting Edge Sales) taught me, to the degree that you take responsibility for everything in your life, you will be able to change anything in your life.

Great influencers settle for nothing but total responsibility.

Jon Berghoff

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Participative Management Design Improves a Multi-Production Facility

The Situation

QuietFlex Manufacturing had a problem. Productivity and morale needed to be improved, and one department was in conflict amongst themselves and with the company. Meetings were disintegrating into arguments over emotional issues, rather than yielding constructive discussions toward solving production problems and improving the workplace. Workers tended to bring nonspecific complaints to management, making resolution difficult, even though CEO Dan Daniel’s priority was to create a thriving work environment. These miscommunications caused workers in one department to question their confidence in the company’s leadership.  

The Task

Mr. Daniel wanted to help the QuietFlex Manufacturing employees be satisfied and challenged in their jobs, and feel important to the company’s overall success. He needed a way to “shift the focus from emotional issues to factual issues that I could do something about,” and hoped to “increase the production rate and decrease the amount of physical labor so our employees felt that the job had more value.” QuietFlex Manufacturing needed to move quickly to continue competitive production, and make plans to avoid a recurrence of the situation. Mr. Daniel wanted to bring everyone together around a set of common goals, reduce stress and physical labor, and find new ways to solve problems into the future.

Mr. Daniel had attended a Caridas Consulting International (business consultant) workshop about using Participative Management Design to build individual involvement in company success, “It was a good seminar for strategic executives, but I initially questioned how well it would work on the plant floor.” He contacted CCI to tailor a program for QuietFlex. Mr. Daniel sought an approach in which all stakeholders could win. He valued the talents and skills of his people and wanted to bring out those strengths to build internal capability. He knew CCI specialized in improving performance and productivity through people. The task was to improve the quantity and quality of production, increase morale, and improve communications to manage problems effectively over the long term.

Implementation

Mr. Daniel was eager for solutions that would work for everyone at QuietFlex Manufacturing. He had been intrigued by CCI’s participative management strategies, and knew that such an approach made sense for his company. The best solutions arise from the daily needs of work, and the best-informed people are those who are doing the work. Participative Design calls for change in the location of responsibility, so the people doing the work initiate the changes. People are encouraged to be self-managing, though not autonomous. Managers provide redesign guidelines, so that everyone contributes to the process and develops reasonable expectations for change. Mr. Daniel was eager to see how Participative Management could both address the employees’ needs and improve the bottom line at QuietFlex Manufacturing.

The company’s initial Participative Design sessions lasted two days for each shift. Caridas Consulting helped participants define and evaluate their current work process and make suggestions for improvement. Certain features of the production process were not flexible; Caridas Consulting got the group to focus positively on what could be changed. Initially, Participative Management Redesign sessions were difficult because people were not convinced there would be any real change. As they saw their suggestions being implemented, people began to improve their productivity and commitment to the company, as well as their own expectations and morale. Plans created within this collaborative framework earned the commitment of everyone on board. People were eager to implement the plans of their own making. They became innovative problem-solvers, and as issues arose, they found the initiative to create solutions. Caridas Consulting conducts Participative Management follow-up sessions with each area every six months.

CCI recognized that positive business results could not be sustained and company-wide improvements would not be complete without guaranteeing their successful delivery. QuietFlex management realized they needed to improve employee relations immediately. Enhanced communication and conflict resolution skills have made the workplace conducive to the introduction and execution of new ideas. Now QuietFlex keeps employee relations strong by helping managers be quality communicators. Caridas Consulting business consultants helped managers develop:

• basic communication skills, with an emphasis on genuineness, positive regard, and empathy
• conflict prevention and resolution skills

Immediate feedback from top managers shows these skills gives them a sense of interdependent control and improves their relations with employees. The managers are eager to further develop their communication skills and build on their initial accomplishments.

After a Successful Intervention

Mr. Daniel reports the situation at QuietFlex has dramatically improved. Workers in one department have been able to increase production from 2500 lbs per hour to 4000 lbs, and continue to progress. In the meantime, scrap and reject have been reduced dramatically. Safety has greatly improved, since the work redesign. People’s ability to participate has greatly improved the speed and quality of production. Mr. Daniel says the people at all levels of QuietFlex are pleased with the results. There are “more pounds being pushed out the door, and we redesigned the pay structure so there are incentives to reduce scrap and waste further, and improve product quality. Employee earnings are already up by 30%. Our employees can produce more and not be as tired.” The business results have been decisive and continue to improve.

By incorporating Participative Management strategies at QuietFlex Manufacturing, employees have been given a role in solving future problems. Participative Management Design has “given the managers a way to deal with specific issues. Now they know to ask the employees to really define the problem and what they think the solution should be.” Mr. Daniel is pleased CCI helped QuietFlex both increase quality production and communicate with their workers. “I ask everyone to bring me solutions with their problems,” he says.

Caridas Consulting also worked in the most troublesome area of the plant. He “threw Caridas Consulting into the lion’s den,” by asking them to work with a group of workers so disgruntled, and so cut off from management, that they had asked the union to intercede on their behalf. As in the glass plant, CCI helped the duct workers develop detailed outlines of the work flow and define their problems. The workers proposed a set of solutions, and the management responded by detailing the changes they were willing to make, and setting a timetable for implementation. Now that most of the changes have been implemented, productivity is up over 30%; because compensation is tied to productivity, morale and pay for this group has also improved substantially. Caridas Consulting opened the lines of communication between these workers and management, resolving the immediate issues and setting up a framework for future problem-solving.

Mr. Daniel is now a believer; the results at QuietFlex prove that Participative Management Design is a flexible and comprehensive model that can be used across industries and at all levels. The workers at QuietFlex have raised the quality and rate of production, and greater productivity means higher wages. They have learned to innovate solutions. Participative Management Design has helped all the people at QuietFlex Manufacturing reach their individual and common goals, and provided them with a framework for continued success.

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