A Primer on Rights and Royalties Management Solutions

Rights and Royalties - if you have ever dealt with the management or distribution of certain kinds of intellectual assets, then you have probably heard of these terms. While rights and royalties are not exclusively the domain of intellectual assets, for the purposes of this article, we will deal with them as such.

We will use films as our example. For those in the business of distributing films, rights and royalties are a primary concern. Film distributors collect movie distribution rights from various producers. As the company goes out into the market place and produces distribution deals, they develop royalty concerns. Rights to distribute films are typically specified in terms of "what", "to whom", "where", "when", and "how". Let's look at an example.

Training Sales Managers - The Core Skills They Must Have Part 2

Training sales managers in your organisation will improve your results. An established fact. Though what are the key core skills to focus on that will bring the highest rewards. This is Part 2 of our core skills for sales managers.

In the last article we talked about some fundamentals. Like have good interpersonal skills, business knowledge and an understanding of the actual role that they will be carrying out. Now it is time to get into some of the actual day to day skills that they will be actively involved in. Such as sales coaching, recruiting representatives, running sales meetings and finally managing the whole process.

Using CRM to Gain Collective Market Intelligence and Strategic Advantage

CRM is about information and learning. If you use it right it is a flow of information that ties your organization together. When it is done right you don't feel it. It just works.

In a recent article I discussed challenges companies typically face when implementing CRM - everything from lack of strategy to lack of user buy in and disengaged management. This article will flip that around and address what happens when you do CRM right and what you need to do to get there. It's all about the "d" - for discipline that is Done correctly, CRM is about discipline - the discipline to record key information about customers and prospects, to analyze and interpret that information and to act upon what you have learned. It's also about results - about having real-time data at your fingertips and being able to move on a dime if you notice things are trending in a new direction. In short, CRM done right is less about the system itself and more about how you use it. Oftentimes small to mid-sized businesses fail to capture the information they need within the system and those that do capture it aren't sure what to do with it. So, what should you be doing?

How to Bolster Employee Morale Via Incentive Meetings

 Being an owner or manager of a business or team of professionals can be an overwhelming and tiring experience. But one of the best things you can do as a business owner is to find new and exciting ways to encourage your employees. After all, employee morale is a crucial part to maintaining and retaining your business's workforce. Just because the economy is weak and the job market is not much stronger does not mean that companies can treat their employees poorly. So, it comes down to you and how you can help make your employees feel welcome, important, and a part of your business family.

One thing to consider is an incentive meeting or a sort of a travel program. Incentive meetings are a great option because you can combine fun and work all in one trip. Incentive meetings or trips can be awarded to your top workers. Even consider arranging it so that the top management members are there for networking opportunities. This is perfect if you work for a very large company with many employees who don't generally get to meet or talk to each other. It is a way to create and maintain important bonds, ultimately increasing the strength of your company and of all your employees.

When deciding on an incentive meeting, you can keep it local or make it a travel and work vacation for everyone. Planning an incentive meeting or retreat takes a lot of hard work. Considering including some team-building activities, intensive professional training, and allowing your employees some much-needed and much-deserved free time. The more you put into this experience, the more you will get out of it. The same goes for your employees. So, make it an event to which they can't say no. Help them get excited about this experience and for working for the company in general.

Important Qualities to Look for When Recruiting Sales Staff

You will probably have a vague idea of what traits you expect new employees to have. However, a list of desired qualities will give you a starting point for writing a job advertisement or beginning the interview process.

When interviewing salespeople take note of these character traits:

• Drive - Competitive people make the best salespeople, so this is an important trait. Competitiveness should be clear in an interview, as the interview process itself is a competitive one. When interviewing as participants to discuss their proudest moment. Proud moments will show whether a person is competitive, as their priority moments will be in surpassing others' achievements. For example, a competitive person may claim that their greatest achievement is being awarded for the highest number of sales, winning an award or achieving the best grade in a particular module in university. A non-competitive person, however, will state their greatest achievement as something like passing university with a good grade. Sales employees should have a drive to beat others; not just a general drive to do well.

Are You Throwing Away Sales?

The growing popularity of online marketing, in particular social media, is resulting in an interesting dilemma. Small businesses are finding that they can use blogs, videos, podcasts, search terms, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and other such media to generate traffic to their Facebook page or website. The problem is they have no idea if these "leads" are any good for their business.

In fact, even large businesses routinely fail to qualify prospects effectively. Here's a widely acknowledged industry statistic: Around 70 percent of leads generated never receive a sales follow-up.

That's why small businesses could be throwing away sales if they do not develop a lead qualification process that matches the way consumers buy today.

5 Important Characteristics to Look For When Hiring a Sales Person

Some of the best company cultures in the world are built on the concept of treating your employees like family. So when looking to add to your sales team, you better make sure that they fit the mold of people that you can count on to represent your business well and get the job done. These 5 character traits are common in most successful sales people:

1. Focused and determined
When interviewing a potential candidate, pay attention to whether or not the person sitting in front of you looks you in the eye. This is the first sign of someone who is truly focused on the speaker. Ask about their career goals and where they see themselves in five years. Ask about a previous job or life experience where the odds were against them and they still managed to succeed. Try to find their reputation of winning to make sure this is someone you want on your team.