Placer County | Tools for Business Success

	Interviewing Skills $30.00 This ILT Series course teaches students the fundamentals of interviewing. Students will prepare themselves to interview a prospective employee by identifying the necessary skills and the type of personality that will fit best in the company. Students examine the guidelines for interviewing candidates, researching references, handling difficult candidates, evaluating candidates, choosing objectively, and appropriately following up with all interviewees. Course activities also cover understanding the laws regarding interviewing and selection-equal employment opportunity, pregnancy discrimination, disabilities, and immigration status-and functioning within their parameters. The manual is designed for quick scanning in the classroom and filled with interactive exercises that help ensure student success.
	Negotiation Basics $13.95 Negotiation is often thought of as a contest in which one side wins and the other side loses. The truth is that we negotiate every day with a view toward meeting our needs without antagonizing or defeating others. This kind of negotiating is known as win-win or collaborative problem solving. This book looks at all forms of negotiating, but emphasizes win-win negotiating principles and strategies. It includes new concepts, tools, and guidance, reflecting recent advances in collaboration and cooperation and new attitudes toward negotiation.
	Communicating with Employees $13.95 In this age of information, effective and concise communication with your staff is essential. This easy-to-read book provides you with techniques of communicating with your employees in a deliberate way to accomplish the business objectives for your organization.
	Customer Service in the Information Age $13.95 Customer service has changed dramatically over the past few decades. New technology has given customer service personnel more options for reaching customers, even as it has given consumers easier access to data and information. CUSTOMER SERVICE IN THE INFORMATION AGE explains how businesses can still provide great customer service with a personal touch--whether it is through e-mail, the telephone, or a company Web site. The tips presented in this book will give organizations concrete suggestions for how to use the technological options available today to elevate their customer service to the next level and build relationships that will result in loyal and satisfied customers.
	New Employee Orientation $13.95 Learn how to start new employees off on the right foot. Checklists and exercises show managers and supervisors how to create a motivating climate for new hires. Readers learn how to develop and implement a customized orientation plan for new employees (both salaried and hourly).
	Writing a Human Resources Manual $13.95 Regardless of company size, employees need to know certain organizational policies, practices, and procedures. This book helps you determine what to include. You'll learn to write an effective policy and how to test and verify what has been written.
	Managing Quality Customer Service $13.95 This practical, self-study book was developed to help you establish and manage a quality service operation. Learn how to determine customer needs, how to effectively and efficiently meet those needs, and how to continually measure your service level.
	Managers Guide to OSHA $13.95 The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 affects nearly every individual who works for an employer. This law helps ensure workplace safety and protects employees from health hazards on the job. Until 1970, comprehensive provisions did not exist on a national basis, but over the intervening years, OSHA has had a profound and positive effect on safety activities in the United States--accidents and injuries have declined, occupational health issues have received attention, and employers have gained greater control over workers' compensation costs. A MANAGER'S GUIDE TO OSHA is designed to help managers and human resource professionals become familiar with this important law, and offers guidance and helpful advice on what to expect during OSHA inspections, what citations or penalties can be proposed, and how to appeal if necessary. This revised edition contains the most recent information related to OSHA, and comes complete with forms and other helpful resources in the Appendix.
	Delegation Skills for Leaders $13.95 Getting promoted to the role of supervisor is a great achievement. Getting work done through others is a special challenge to all new supervisors, and even some established ones, but it is a skill that can be learned and mastered. The ability to thoughtfully delegate tasks involves four major functions--planning, organizing, motivating, and controlling. DELEGATION SKILLS FOR LEADERS (formerly DELEGATING FOR RESULTS) explains each of these areas and more. As a supervisor, you are responsible for the work of others, and taking the time to match tasks with employees' special skills and abilities is the key to your success. The act of delegating work also involves honing your interpersonal skills, being able to judge the readiness of an employee to take on a project, and being able to instill confidence in that employee to get the job done. Finally, if you are having trouble entrusting others to perform specific tasks, this book will help you become more comfortable in sharing responsibility and letting go of the "I-can-do-it-all-myself" mindset.
	Performance Management $13.95 The critical skills you will acquire upon completion of this book will help you establish a work climate conducive to managing employee performance. In this book, you will learn how to help employees find meaning in their jobs and stay on course, how to maximize employee input and participation during an appraisal, how to maintain positive communication about expectations versus performance, and how to follow up on agreements reached. Most professional and administrative employees today do not understand how their work is evaluated. The techniques outlined in this book will help you fashion a well-planned and thoughtful process for creating an open atmosphere for discussion and for leading the way for employees' personal development and growth.
	Sexual Harassment in the Workplace $13.95 Learn how to handle complaints and how to prevent sexual harassment in your workplace by understanding the legal, professional, and personal aspects of sexual harassment.
	Practical Time Management $15.95 This book provides a more extensive treatment of time management than Marion Haynes' best-seller Personal Time Management. Considerable attention is paid to planning, delegating, and analyzing time utilization, both on the job and at home. A series of behavioral objectives are also included.
	Attacking Absenteeism $13.95 American businesses lose $30 billion a year to absenteeism. This self-study book helps you recognize the symptoms of absenteeism. A step-by-step plan, case studies, and exercises will help you cut absenteeism and increase employee productivity.
	Getting Your Message Across $16.95 Making certain that your message is heard is one of the keys to effective communication. This friendly book outlines innovative ideas, practical examples, and exercises to help you clarify your messages and improve your presentations.
	Motivating People $15.95 Getting others to work hard and give their best to an organization isn't always easy. This book offers positive ideas, concepts, methods, and approaches to effectively motivate others. Practical examples explain how to communicate better, set goals, and reward performance.
	Rate your Skills as a Manager $13.95 This comprehensive book discusses twelve primary management functions, then provides a self-evaluation inventory for each. You can measure your performance for each skill and learn how to strengthen those that need improvement.
	Sales Training Basics $13.95 A primer for those new to selling. You'll explore the psychology of selling, questioning techniques, closing a sale, telephone selling, and more. Through a series of lively exercises you'll learn techniques of selling and the importance of a positive attitude and self-image.
	Writing Business Proposals and Reports $13.95 Writing effective reports and proposals takes more than fundamental writing skills. This book teaches readers how to organize, research, develop, and edit complex documents as well as sharpen one's overall business writing skills.
	Vocabulary Improvement $13.95 One key to success in business is the possession of a solid vocabulary. This entertaining book, written at an adult basic skills level, offers a comprehensive look at the English language and its usages. Games, puzzles, and exercises make learning vocabulary both interesting and fun.
	Starting Your New Business $13.95 Everything you need to know to create, launch, and operate any small business successfully, from preparing a business plan to launching the venture.
	Measuring Customer Satisfaction $13.95 After completing this course, you will have the critical skills to recognize, reward, and reinforce top-quality service performance, close the gaps between customer expectations and service performance, use customer feedback to improve products and services, and stay competitive in any industry. Everyone is aware of the importance of satisfying customers, however, how do you measure their satisfaction? This book walks you through measuring quality and customer satisfaction by teaching you what to measure, when to measure it, how to measure it, how to analyze the data, and what to do with your results. Employees from all parts of an organization will benefit from this knowledge, from the business owner to the front-line supervisor to the customer contact employee.
	Handling the Difficult Employee $13.95 Sooner or later every supervisor must deal with a difficult employee. This book helps managers understand why performance problems occur, and how to resolve them. It includes a six-step intervention model, and a thorough discussion of discipline and termination procedures.
	Motivating at Work $13.95 Follow these handy tips and you will increase team performance, while making the job more enjoyable for everyone. Become a leader who inspires and rewards employees to give their best. Raise expectations and performance. Learn how to create a motivating workplace. Increase productivity with the LEARN method.
	Twenty Ways to Improve Customer Service $15.95 Are you interested in improving your customer service, especially the skills of frontline representatives? This book highlights twenty key elements to customer service and supports them with skill-builders, suggestions, and recommended personal actions to help you increase your service skill inventory.
	Rightful Termination $13.95 When managers are faced with having to dismiss an employee, termination can be made easier by understanding the process involved. This book is designed to help correct the myths and misconceptions, and to explain the legal ramifications of employee termination.
	TQM Total Quality Management $13.95 This book provides managers and team members with an easy-to-understand overview of the TQM philosophy. Fifty ideas for practicing the TQM concept are given for use by organizations, teams, and individuals.
	Quality Interviewing $13.95 Avoid the seven unforgivable mistakes of interviewing. Use this concise, quick-read book to help you master the interviewing process, and make sound hiring decisions you won't regret. You'll learn how to easily assess strengths and weaknesses, and what to look for in a prospective employee. It's just as invaluable for job seekers!
	About Pay $13.95 Most of us feel uncomfortable about discussing pay. Now, with this book, you can learn how to communicate about pay effectively and with minimum discomfort for both you and your employees. The case studies in this book are based on real-life incidents and illustrate problems that can arise
	ISO 9000 $13.95 This friendly, easy-to-read book introduces you to ISO 9000. You'll learn how to get certified, discover how ISO 9000 will streamline your business practices, and see how ISO 9000 can result in higher customer confidence in your product and services.
	Basics of Manufacturing $13.95 An ideal primer for those interested in learning more about manufacturing processes. The theory, tools, and technology offered in this book will expand the reader's knowledge base to enhance existing skills, and introduce new information and skills.
	Consultative Sales Power $13.95 For salespeople who want to achieve ongoing sales success in a competitive, constantly changing business environment, this book shows how to develop a mind-set that considers the customer in each part of the selling process.
	Managing Negative People $13.95 Negative people are more likely to be dissatisfied with their lives and jobs, leading to increased absenteeism and lowered productivity. This book has activities and exercises to help readers cope with negativity in others and make their own work more satisfying and productive.
	Telemarketing $13.95 In business, every phone call is an opportunity not only for telemarketing, but for improved customer service. With this book, you can discover the skills and techniques needed to convert these opportunities into sales and future business.
	On Being the Boss $13.95 This book teaches how to balance management expectations, customer relations and the needs of your employees through such hot topics as discrimination, sexual politics, religion in the workplace, and crisis management.
	Process Improvement $13.95 The critical skills outlined in this book teach you to quickly grasp what process improvement is all about, learn specific tools and techniques applicable to every business, understand what needs changing and create a process map, and implement changes and measure their effectiveness.You know that you want things to change, but you’re struggling to know how and where to begin your efforts to change and improve. This book offers practical, easy-to-understand instructions to improve your current processes. You will learn the tools and techniques to improve the way you do business, make your organization more responsive, and keep yourself competitive in today’s marketplace.
	Benchmarketing Basics $13.95 This book will teach you how benchmarking is used to improve performance, set quality objectives, and identify and adapt to best processes. Most of us routinely use benchmarking--to measure, match, compare, evaluate--all to establish a standard of what we believe is best. However, the critical elements of our customers’ expectations and requirements are often missing. This book adds those elements into the process, and demonstrates six other types of benchmarking, while helping you decide which method will suit your needs.
	Basics of Inventory Management $13.95 This book contains a logistics approach to inventory management—from the warehouse through the distribution system, from the supplier to the customer. Written for managers, it outlines objectives and performance measures pertaining to customer service, inventory investment, and operational efficiency. Factors affecting inventory are fully discussed and warehouse environments are fully explored, including types and objectives, packaging, material handling, and costs involved.
	Employee Suggestion Systems $13.95 Employee-generated ideas can be a company's greatest competitive advantage. Now supervisors, managers, and business owners can learn how to benefit from employee suggestions. This book explains how to encourage employees to submit their improvement ideas, monitor submissions, evaluate suggestions, communicate results, and establish a reward program. How to overcome negativity, apathy, fear, and other attitudes that hinder improvement is also discussed. Other covered topics include how to get a steady flow of improvement ideas from employees, how to encourage employees to actively think about and search for improvement ideas, and much more.
	Conducting a Needs Analysis $13.95 Discover the value of conducting a needs analysis in response to performance issues. This systematic, information-gathering process will help you evaluate current issues and reveal whether a well-targeted training program is needed. Learn how to pre-plan your needs analysis, how to investigate problems, how to evaluate data and training possibilities, and how to report your findings and recommendations.
	JIT Forecasting and Master Scheduling $13.95 Now you can slash manufacturing and inventory costs while improving customer service through just-in-time forecasting and scheduling. Manufacturing managers and supervisors will discover proven skill-building exercises and five major forecasting tools to help them keep their businesses competitive.
	Understanding Financial Statements $13.95 Everything you always wanted to know about those confusing financial statements but were too embarrassed to ask! This friendly primer of basic business finances takes you step-by-step through all the fundamentals from balance sheets to profit and loss statements—and translates them into meaningful, usable information. A beginner’s bible!
	Managing Employee Performance Problems $15.95 At some point every manager has to cope with people problems. From alcoholism to illiteracy, this book has a case study to help you learn how to handle 29 specific problem behaviors. With a view to the changing needs of the new workforce, you'll learn how to tell the difference between legitimate complaints and insubordination. Discover why your employees work and how to encourage good performance. Also included are tips on resolving disputes fairly. The real-world situations in these case studies provide practical solutions to boost performance in any organization.
	Recognition, Gratitude and Celebration $12.95 Recognizing the work and achievement of others is an important responsibility of leadership and a great opportunity to demonstrate the values of an organization. Recognition can make a vital contribution to survival in any highly competitive business environment.
	Taking Technology to Market $12.95 This brief book can equip any manager with an understanding of the technological process development from getting the idea through the business proposition, model, and plan to the creation of the envisioned business and the actual market entry.
	New Management Accounting $12.95 Important areas such as quality, customer satisfaction, innovation, and capital management need to be evaluated beyond dollars and cents. Case studies from Toyota, Pitney Bowes, and others describe these new measures of overall performance.
	Basic Business Math $13.95 Trust Crisp to take the misery out of math! This easy book covers whole numbers, fractions, decimals, percentages, simple equations, and percentage formulas with examples of: commissions, markups and markdowns, discounts, sales tax, simple and compound interest, and installment loans. Practice with bar, line and circle graphs, follow with just a touch of statistics—averages, medians, modes, etc. Answers included. It simply makes math work for anyone!
	Beyond Generation X $14.95 Because entry-level workers can make or break a service business, today's managers have to understand how to work with and motivate young employees. This practical manual explains how today's young workers are different from previous generations, including how their work ethic differs. Learn how to reduce costly turnover and improve the productivity of your younger employees by understanding their world view.
	50 One-Minute Tips to Better Communciation $13.95 This course will teach you the critical skills to conduct and participate in effective meetings, revise and clarify your writing and speaking, and create and execute engaging presentations and teleconferences. Business communication occurs in a variety of venues, and in today's rapidly changing environment good communication is key. The point of clear communication is to strengthen business relationships. Precise communication depends on clear purposes, careful attention to the message, and thorough awareness of the audience.
	Beyond Customer Service $13.95 This book can help you and your organization go beyond customer service to retain and satisfy established clientele. Within this self-study guide are 50 useful tips to increase customer satisfaction, generate meaningful feedback, and develop loyalty.
	Customer Focus $12.95 This book provides a clear road map for developing the focus on customers. Market research, performance measures, and quality systems tools are introduced throughout to aid in developing a cohesive plan and strategy.
	Customer Service Nightmares $12.95 From the Experience of everyone's worst day comes a collection of real stories of some of the worst customer service nightmares ever experienced. With invaluable clarity, Nancy Friedman, The Telephone Doctor(R), examines these incredible stories and shares her experienced insights with you. A perfect primer on the worst customer service practices and how to avoid or correct them.
	Customer Satisfaction $13.95 After completing this course, you'll have the skills to build and maintain long-term customer relationships, handle difficult people, and overcome barriers to customer satisfaction. By learning to define targets for superior customer service, you will create repeat business with every customer contact you make. Providing superior service means solving problems, dealing with frustrations and stress, giving and receiving feedback, avoiding placing blame on others, and communicating effectively. This course will teach you all the critical skills to achieve outstanding customer satisfaction.
	Winning the Inner Game of Selling $13.95 Here's a book about the mind-game of selling. With a set of proven exercises and a series of techniques, this book will help you develop the inner vision of a winner. This is not just a book for salespeople, it is a practical and direct means for anyone who has to put across an idea, to convince someone to act.
	Excellence in Management $16.95 This book contains six keys to excellence in management. Examples of best and worst managers are provided for comparison. Exercises and case studies cover succeeding as a leader, communicating, persuading and influencing people, creating superior service, managing time, and much more.
	Financial Analysis $13.95 Written by the author of Understanding Financial Statements, this book provides more advanced, useful information on topics such as forecasting, budgeting techniques, corporate statements, and the use of common stock and debts for capitalization. Ideal for middle managers, small business owners, and entrepreneurs.
	Building and Closing the Sale $13.95 Set the stage for an easy and effective closing transaction every time. Learn techniques to build rapport with your prospects and guide them to a successful close. Address questions and objections with confidence. Strike the right balance between listening and speaking. Tailor your sales demonstrations to each client.
	Telemarketing Tips from A to Z $13.95 With the same easy-to-understand style of her first book, Telephone Skills from A-Z, Nancy Friedman, The Telephone Doctor(R), creates a handy guide for people in telemarketing. It is filled with advice on how to approach any situation with a creative and positive attitude.
	Retaining Your Employees $13.95 Companies of all sizes are finding an urgent new priority--keeping employees. This book takes the reader through the critical ideas of employee retention using what is called the Three Rs of Employee Retention--Respect, Recognition, and Rewards--as the basis for any program designed to keep people around.
	Excellence in Supervision $13.95 This book will show you how to gain the respect and support of your employees, use coaching skills to help others excel and accomplish goals, deal effectively with changing times and confusing situations, communicate confidently with your employees, peers, and manager, and establish expectations for high performance. As a supervisor you must lead employees to success and understand that their success is your success. Supervisors need to possess a multitude of skills in communication, performance management, coaching, and flexible decision making. Learning and applying these skills quickly is essential for any supervisor's success.
	50 One-Minute Tips for Retaining Employees $13.95 It is hard enough to retain highly trained and technical workers but facing the challenge of keeping hourly workers, getting new people off on the right foot, and training people to become good trainers are major challenges today. The second of two books providing 50 Tips for recruiting and retaining employees that are just that--handy quick ideas for employers to start their thinking on a topic.
	Accounting Cycle $13.95 Written for the beginner, this concise guide maps out the accounting cycle: balance sheets, income statements, ledger transactions, trial balances, and closing entries. Ideal for small or new businesses, this book explains single-entry and double-entry accounting and cash versus accrual accounting.
	Calming Upset Customers $13.95 This course will demonstrate communication techniques that build customer loyalty, and how to defuse customer anger with attentive listening and empathy, focus on the customer's needs without blaming, and respond to personal accusations without becoming defensive. Customers are your most important assets, but sometimes they get upset. It's critical to learn what steps to take to address the situation quickly and tactfully, and what can be done to keep the customer coming back. You will learn how listening, nonverbal communication, feedback, and management all help to deal with an unhappy customer, and turn the situation into a positive one.
	Recruiting for High Performance $13.95 Organizing a recruiting campaign takes a little planning and some knowledge of where to find the best candidates. RECRUITING FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE is the brand-new companion title to HIGH PERFORMANCE HIRING and is full of helpful tips on how to develop a recruiting plan and target labor sources that will attract the best people. Recruiting is a two-way street. While managers strive to find the best candidates to fill their job openings, potential recruits are evaluating whether an organization is a desirable employer. This book also suggests ways in which an organization can maintain good visibility and position itself as the company to work for.
	Putting Diversity to Work $13.95 Putting diversity to work in today's organization is everyone's job. More and more, organizations are seeing that true success occurs on not just one, but on three bottom lines: profit, people, and planet. This book focuses on the business case and best practices for bringing the best out of all kinds of people. It is written for people who manage people and care for the places in which people work.
	Accounting Essentials $13.95 To run a business, numbers must be taken into account and factored into everyday decision-making, both major and minor. Understanding the numbers associated with day-to-day operations is no longer just the domain of the finance and accounting departments--everyone from lower-level staff to senior managers should learn the fundamentals of the cost of the organization's product or service, the price strategies involved, and the impact that short- and long-term decisions have on the bottom line. ACCOUNTING ESSENTIALS is an introductory course that teaches the basics of finance, accounting, and economic strategies in an easy-to-follow, easy-to-understand format complete with glossaries, diagrams, and self-tests. A companion title to this book is THE ACCOUNTING CYCLE, another Crisp Series book by Jay Jacquet. This book was written especially for nonfinancial managers or new business owners, and can be used in an academic setting or for self-study. It is an indispensable primer for learning and understanding accounting fundamentals, such as cash and accrual accounting, basic recordkeeping, ledger and journal entries, and financial statement preparation.
	Finding Money to Start a Business $9,999.00 This 2.5 to 3 hour online course explains the tactics of how money is really raised for small business formation. The course examines the sources of available capital and an overview concerning the difference between debt and equity. The course walks you through the maze of financial terms and tactics necessary to successfully identify and secure money for a new business venture.