Create an incentive compensation plan knowing it will be gamedTired of the reality that within five minutes of announcing an incentive plan someone on your sales team starts to find ways to game the plan? THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT! By gaming, sales reps are trying to achieve the goals you set out. Too many companies walk away from incentives thinking they create a scenario in which every win by a team member means a loss for the company. The only thing a “loss” mean...

Be a Network Marketing Superstar provides a proven 26-step program designed to help business leaders quickly become stars in this fast-growing and profitable industry.As far as career opportunities go, network marketing is hard to beat. It costs almost nothing to start, allows for flexible hours, and paves the way for financial independence. Network marketing -- also known as direct selling and multi-level marketing -- has turned millions of people into su...

Entrepreneur and bestselling author of The Lean Startup, Eric Ries reveals how entrepreneurial principles can be used by businesses of all kinds, ranging from established companies to early-stage startups, to grow revenues, drive innovation, and transform themselves into truly modern organizations, poised to take advantage of the enormous opportunities of the twenty-first century.In The Lean Startup, Eric Ries laid out the practices of successful ...

A Washington Post BestsellerThree Principles for Managing-and Avoiding-the Problems of GrowthWhy is profitable growth so hard to achieve and sustain? Most executives manage their companies as if the solution to that problem lies in the external environment: find an attractive market, formulate the right strategy, win new customers.But when Bain & Company’s Chris Zook and James Allen, authors of the bestselling Profit from the Core,...

Don't be daunted by a challenging economy and fierce competition. Even in the toughest environment, innovative, highly profitable businesses abound and yours can be one of them.Bestselling business authority Mark Thompson and international success expert Brian Tracy join forces to show you how great leadership, great people, and great products are the key to building a phenomenally successful business.In Now, Build a Great Business!, you'll learn h...

A year’s worth of management wisdom, all in one place.We’ve examined the ideas, insights, and best practices from the past year of Harvard Business Review to bring you the latest, most significant thinking driving business today. With authors from Marcus Buckingham to Herminia Ibarra and company examples from Google to Deloitte, this volume brings the most current and important management conversations to your fingertips.This book will insp...

Sales professionals now confront the most serious threat to their success. Regardless of their size, industry, country, customer type, nature of the relationship or amount of value they provide, sales professionals are finding that purchasing decisions are increasingly being limited by procurement. The modern procurement function is purchasing on steroids. Where traditional purchasing managers negotiated, procurement officials attempt to dictate.  Procurement deploys a variety of tactics desi...

Dithering. Decisions that turn out wrong. Decisions that people sabotage or don't know how to implement. If your company's experiencing these problems, it's not alone. Most organizations don't know how to make and execute good decisions. And they're paying a high price-as profitability and competitiveness erode.It doesn't have to be this way. In Decide and Deliver, the authors draw on Bain & Company's extensive research to present a five-step process for improving your fir...

Long known as the go-to management consultant of the design world, Keith Granet reveals more of his clear-eyed insights about running a creative business in this follow-up to his book The Business of Design. While aimed at creative enterprises, Granet's advice, quickly summarized as "know what you do best and focus on that," applies to any organization, small or large, commercial or nonprofit. He delves into the skill sets and people needed to grow a business, as well as the thing...

Imagine what your life would be like if you could apply the same strategies that successful people used to get ahead.These are the folks who live in the grand houses that you see when you drive down certain streets. They drive nice cars and dine at the best restaurants. They live their lives like absolute superstars.Join business consultant John M. Hawkins, who learned long ago that the secret to success is building a strategic plan to get what you want. He provides a detai...

For new managers, the first experience can be overwhelming. For the employees of that new manager, the experience can be horrible, uninspiring, and demoralizing. Too often a new manager, just like a new teacher, is placed in the position with little support, guidance, or advice.HELP ME I'M LOST offers practical advice using the author's actual experience in helping to guide the new manager. Learning from the mistakes of someone else can make that first assignment easier, more enjoya...

Introducing a Powerful New Business Model for Today’s ITBlogger, speaker, software executive, and bestselling author Jill Dyché has been thinking about leadership a lot lately. Having consulted with business and IT executives with Fortune 500 companies for most of her career, she has heard a common refrain: “What should we do about shadow IT?” She’s decided to address the answer head-on.With the onslaught of cloud solutions, consumerization of technology, a...