Are You Giving People Reasons Not To Do Business With You?

We all know we are living in uncertain economic times, and maintaining your business let alone growing it is not easy right now. But I wonder if we are making it even harder than it has to be. Have we really taken stock of what changes have occurred with the economy, our target market and our customers, and how those changes need to impact how we do business.

A few years ago, the economy was riding high, money flowed like water, and consumers were spending freely. Pretty much if you opened your doors you could grow your business. Today, the economy is constantly changing, money is tight, and the consumer wants value for the money they spend. Attracting and retaining customers in this economy requires a different approach.  You need to create an amazing customer experience consistently, you need to be easy to do business with, and you need to promote and protect your brand reputation. Exceeding in all three areas will ensure you grow your business; falling down in even one will make the job far harder than it has to be.

Let me share an example. I called yesterday to schedule a physical therapy appointment. The only time I had available was Tuesday at 5 p.m. All their therapists were booked at this time. But instead of telling me I would have to schedule for the next week, the receptionist suggested she check with their other location to see if she could "borrow" one of their therapists. She called the other location, booked the therapist and called me right back to confirm.

Now think about that. A few years ago (when patients were busting through the door to make these appointments) that level of service may not have happened. On the other hand, that practice is full despite the economy, because they understand the power of the patient experience has on keeping their book full. This was so easy for me. I told the receptionist what I needed, and she "colored outside the lines" to make it work. Taking all the responsibility to confirm the new therapist, make the appointment, and call me back to confirm. She made me feel valued, because she did it all to accommodate my schedule. Will that business grow? Yes, they make it easy for regular patients to keep their appointments, and give us reasons to send referrals.
Her's a little different example. I am researching schools that offer a different type of coaching certification than I currently have. My goal this year is to get certified in this area as well. I found one that offered a program that had been highly recommended to me, and worked well with my schedule. I first went to the schools website, but I was so overwhelmed with programs and course information, and I could not quite figure out the dates of classes offered or how to register. So I called the school, and after pressing several buttons was put through to registration. The woman I spoke with was very nice. She laughed as she told me that their site needed to be updated and she knows it is confusing. She let me know the dates I was looking for were not even confirmed,  and she hoped they would be ready in a week or so. She told me to check the website over the next couple of weeks.

Now, think about this. I was on the phone, ready to buy, and ready to send them a check for $5,000. Not only did the woman admit to me they were not prepared, and that their current information was not up-to-date; she made it my responsibility to do business with and spend money with them. She never asked my name, my interest, or even offered to follow-up with me once the site was updated. She gave me plenty of reasons not to do business with them. Needless to say, that interaction told me all I needed to know about the coaching school. I moved on to another program and gave another school my $5000.

I realize times are tough, and growing a business is not easy, but you need to ask yourself are you giving people reasons not do to business with you? Here is an exercise you can easily do at your next team meeting that will help you answer that question:

1. Have everyone on your team bring in one example of a frustrating or exceptional customer experience they have had
2. One by one share those experiences with the group
3. Than ask yourselves, as a team, what happens, given the same situation, with a customer in our office
4. Discuss and then implement the changes you identify that would give customers even more reasons to do business with you.

This exercise is so easy to do, and gives you great perspective on how you can consistently improve your customer experience. Doing business these days is not easy, but making sure at every turn you welcome the opportunities you get, will help you go from surviving this economy to thriving in this economy!

Are You Choosing The Right Leaders?

Studies show that less than fifteen percent of our success in life is based on our technical skill and eighty-five percent is based on our ability to get along and work well with others. I believe that statistic holds true for companies too, and even more so in uncertain economic times.

If companies want to succeed they need to be innovative, collaborative, highly efficient and produce hard tangible results. There is no doubt you need great people to to do all of this, but just having great people on your team won't get you the results you are looking for. You need great people who understand and promote the value of working together, and who can inspire and lead others to do the same.

Often leaders are promoted and valued for their talents and skills, when leadership is truly about the ability to get along and connect with others. The role of a leader is to influence and inspire the behavior of others to enlist their support in the achievement of a common goal.  This takes a high level of self awareness, emotional maturity, and a commitment to continue to grow and develop your people skills.

So are you choosing the right leaders? Are you supporting their efforts to grow and enhance their people skills? Do you value those qualities in your organization?

Here are some questions to ask yourself about your leaders:
1. What specific things do they do to help others be successful in the organization?
2. Do they promote teamwork and collaboration within and across departments?
3. What have they done in the last year to mentor, coach and develop others in the organization?
4. Who else in the organization would credit the support and help of this leader with their personal success?
5. Are they respected by their peers? Do they treat their peers with respect?

If you answered negatively to any of those questions, I would challenge you that you have a leadership issue on your hands and one you need to address sooner rather than later. While I encourage you to invest time in helping these individuals become successful, I caution you from trying to "save" them. People have to want to grow and change, it is not something you can force upon them. Spending your time and energy here, without seeing early signs of true change, can be very costly to the organization in the long run.
If you answered positively to those questions, then you have a leader on your hands. Invest your time here, and see what support they need from you to continue to grow and develop. Putting your time, effort and resources into this individual will prove so much more profitable for you personally and the company. You'll grow more leaders, create even more collaboration and partnership, and produce even more powerful results.
 
We are living in uncertain economic times, and trust and value have become the new return on investment our employees and our customers are looking for, making what we offer a commodity and how we offer it our competitive edge. You need the best leaders on your team to both succeed and achieve the results you want. Choose wisely, and your job and your success will come fast and will be sustainable!

New Years Resolutions And The Wisdom Of A Teenager

It is the time to write our New Year Resolutions! This is the year we save the world, get into amazing shape, only eat healthy food,  grow our business fifty percent, and write the great American Novel.

I love the New Year Holiday and I love the idea of New Years Resolutions!  The tradition of starting fresh, new ideas, new plans and plenty of new opportunity. Heading into a new year always fills me with lots of positive thoughts, energy and excitement. It is the perfect time to be mindful, and think about what we cherish about our lives and what we would like to change. It is time to make a personal commitment to be grateful for what we love and work to change what we don't. It is the perfect tradition!

The perfect tradition, with one little catch.  Resolutions are often forgotten or broken by about mid-January, leaving us to really start the year feeling like we have failed before we even got started. Why? Because while we commit to make changes, we often bite off more than we can chew and then just the thought of making change is overwhelming.

Yesterday I was given great wisdom and insight on this very topic by my seventeen year old nephew. Yes, apparently teenagers do know everything!  We were riding down the road, when a United Parcel Services (UPS) truck passed us. My nephew took this opportunity to inform me that UPS designs their daily routes so that their drivers can make as many right turns as possible when delivering packages. Why? Because making more right turns saves the drivers time, cuts down on accidents, and uses less gasoline. Putting the company on track to both save money and increase revenue. A small change that has a big impact.

I thought about that piece of wisdom all day, and thought why don't we apply that type of common sense to our own lives?Set our sites on big change (UPS obviously wanted to have a big impact on overall revenue, timely service, and expense control) with small, bite-size effort. The type of effort we can make and one we will consistently do. I mean think about it, let's assume UPS asks the question, "How could we save money and grow our revenues?" There are a million different answers to that question, and a million things they could have done, but they chose to begin with one that was minimally intrusive, simple to implement, and still had a big impact. 

So as you head into this New Year, think about your own life. What do you love about it? What would you like to improve? Then identify one small and simple change you could make, one you could truly commit to, and make it. Let your resolution represent a big difference you want to make in your life, but let the way you go about carrying it out be small and simple. As you move into 2011, make a new resolution to make small incremental changes that have a lasting impact on your professional and personal life!  Happy New Year!

Competitive Edge - Not What You Sell - It's How You Sell It

I recently asked the question to a number of small business owners, "What are the top challenges you are facing right now?" Not surprisingly the economy ranked right up there at number one, but two others closely followed: Staying top of mind and visible with clients, and staying connected and engaged with clients.

That to me, was a very telling response. Really shows just how much our economy has changed, and that the economists were right. We no longer have the luxury of waiting for the client to come to us - we need to go to them. We are moving into what is known as a pull economy, meaning that the consumer is in control. With increased competition, technology and globalization the consumer really determines what they want to buy, when they want to  buy it, how they want to buy it and from whom they want to buy it.That makes what we sell or offer a commodity, but how we sell or offer it our competitive advantage. it is not the what we do in this economy, but how we do it that will determine our level of success.

Having a superior product or offering a high quality service is merely a consumer expectation these days, a minimum requirement. Consumers have so many choices, so much opportunity  they don't even give you the time of day if they do not believe you offer or sell a product that is at the level at which they are looking.  So if you cannot differentiate yourself with quality of product, then what can you do to make the consumer notice and choose you?

Build trust and add value!  Trust and value have become the new return on investment. They are what consumers are looking for, and they are what is driving the decision making process. Consumers will spend money, they will buy multiple services, and they will remain long term , loyal clients if they understand the value you offer. They will refer their friends, their peers and they will become your unpaid sales force if and when they trust you.

So if trust and value have become so important, if trust and value have become the point at which you can gain competitive advantage, what do you do to ensure you are really developing it with your clients?

Trust is built through consistent positive interaction with you and your company over a period of time. The longer the time invested, the more positive the consistent interaction, the deeper the level of trust. Meaning there is more opportunity for depth of relationship and greater sales. Adding value is simply determined through listening, and by understanding that value is unique to the individual. You need to ask great questions, and you need to listen so you can find ways to solve your clients challenges. You need to help them take advantage of their opportunities; not the opportunities or challenges you predetermined they had. There will be plenty of time for that later, once you have met their immediate needs and they feel that emotional connection that adding value brings. With that, you gain permission to expand the relationship and offer new opportunities and solutions they never knew existed.

So if you want to succeed in this economy, if you want to solve your top challenges and turn them into opportunities, understand it is not what you sell in this economy that matters, but how you sell it!

Focus Speeds Up the Buying Cycle

We've made our choice - to be one of those people who thrive in this economy.  One of those people that have made the decision to apply the strategies and take the actions to make it happen no matter the odds. We have accepted our reality, and we know the economy is not down it has forever shifted. We understand the consumer is driving the buying cycle, so we must now invest our time and energy in building relationships. With economic shifts, globalization and technological advancements we know the consumer can buy what they want, when they want it, and from whom they want it. We get it - we understand these changes - and we know we better be top of mind and  highly visible, if we want to be the first person our prospects think of when they are ready to buy.

So how do we do all of that, still turn a profit, have a life, and get all of our other work done? I mean, building relationships takes time, energy and lots of resources. How can we thrive in this economy, if moving our prospects to clients takes so much time and effort? The answer - we need to focus. If you want to speed up the buying cycle, if you want to encourage your prospects to move through the sales funnel, and if you want to build long term relationships that create loyalty, referrals and a powerful unpaid sales force, then you need to focus.

Focusing is really nothing more than having a plan and being clear about what you want, and how you plan to get it. Ask yourself these questions:
1. What do you want?
2. Who can help you get it?
3. What actions or strategies are you willing to prioritize daily/weekly to make sure you achieve it?

Plans don't need to be long, they don't need to be complicated, they only need to be clear and they need to be followed.  Where you spend your time, who you spend it with, and what you spend it doing, are directly related to your success (whatever your definition of success is.) The next time you feel stressed, full of anxiety or just plain burned out; take a look at where you have spent your time, who you have spent it with, and what you have done. Then see if it even remotely comes close to what you say you want for you career, your life, or both. I am guessing it won't even be close.

The great thing about focus is that it is simple - not easy - but it is simple. Now more than ever, we are overwhelmed with constant messages, distractions, and changing priorities. If you want to thrive in this economy, if you want to be successful and you want to be happy, then you have to know what you want, and you have to put your time and energy into getting it. What you focus on in  life expands. It is that clear, that simple, and completely yours to achieve.

4 Must Know Strategies to Thrive In Any Economy

You have a choice to make. Do you want to survive this economy or do you want to thrive in this economy? That may sound like a silly question, but make no mistake it is a choice, and one that is clearly yours to make.

If you choose to be one of the thrivers, and I hope you do,  then stick with me for this next series of blogs where we will discuss the four must know strategies to thrive in any economy. We will explore the individual strategies and what steps you can take to begin to implement each one.

Strategy 1 - Accept
Who can tell me exactly when this economy is going to turn around, and exactly what that is going to look like? Precisely - no one. No matter how many economists way in, and no matter how many experts we listen to, the fact still remains that no one has any idea when this economy is going to turn around.

To become a thriver, the first strategy you need to implement is acceptance. You need to embrace the fact that the economy is not down it has shifted. No matter how hard you push, try or beg, our economy is not returning to the way it was before.

We must accept we have moved out of a push economy and into a pull economy, which means the consumer is driving the buying cycle. Globalization, economic shifts and technology, have all made it so easy for consumers to buy whatever they want, whenever they want, and from whomever they want. So, trust and value have now become the new ROI - Return on Investment. People are buying, if they perceive value, and they will buy from you, if they trust you.

The New Sales Funnel!

To convey value and build trust, means the relationship needs to come long before the sale. Making our sales funnel look more like a martini glass than an actual funnel. We must spend a lot more time investing in the top of the funnel (glass)  building  relationships. We have to get to know our prospects and customers, and work to develop their trust and deliver value that is unique to them. Then we must allow them to move through the sales process at their own pace ensuring they remain in control. Your ability to build relationships, convey value and build trust directly relates to the speed to which your client moves through that sales funnel (martini glass.)
So, your first step to be a "Thriver" in this economy is to the accept reality - this economy is different. The consumer is in control of the buying cycle and trust and value are the new ROI. Many of our old sales strategies and techniques just don't work anymore, and the best way to fill your sales funnel is by investing in and building lots of quality relationships.
Now the question becomes who do I build relationships with? How can I thrive in this economy if I just spend my time building and developing relationships? How do I turn relationships into bottom line results?  Join us next week for strategy two, and you'll move one step closer to Thriving In Any Economy!

Employee Engagement - How to Get Your Team To Implement.

I met with two clients this past week both on the fast track to promotion and opportunity. They have used their talents and skills to navigate these waters of a shifting economy to create more opportunity and actually get ahead. Yeah! I love a great success story and the motivation I feel when I hear such positive news.

Both are looking at positions that involve growing their divisions, reorganizing systems and in a nut shell making some serious change. They have the experience, talent and skills to ensure their ideas will lead to great solutions, however the real measure of success will come in their ability to implement effectively.

Even as I write that it makes me laugh, as it sounds as if effective implementation is something they can control. It is something they can heavily influence and manage, but not something they can control. That lesson - understanding and embracing it - is the difference between a leader who can effectively lead a team through change and one who cannot.

All the brilliant solutions, all the amazing new systems and processes, won't matter a bit if the team that needs to implement is not fully engaged, on board, and ready to make things happen.

That is why - the first step any leader takes when navigating the team through change is to focus on the power of the word "why"!  To stop and think through every step of the process, every new idea, and answer a few simple questions:
1. Why does this change need to be made?
2. Why would my team want to do this?
3. Why is it beneficial to them as individuals to do this?
4. Why do I need their help and support to make this happen?

Effective change leadership focuses first on the answers to these questions. New strategies, techniques and company direction need to then be communicated and delivered in a manner that first (and continuously)  answer these questions.

I fundamentally believe that people want to do a good job, and  they want to help their teammates and their company grow. However, we as human beings are hard wired to resist change, and more so change that is "pushed" upon us. Change leads us into the unknown, and there is fear and uncertainty there, making resistance a natural reaction.

As leaders, when we first answer the question why for our employees, we create understanding in our employees and understanding is soothing and calming. Employees relax their natural resistance, and as leaders we are then free to implement the next steps of change.

I have long believed that first answering the question why is the most valuable tool you have for implementing change. Are you required to do this for you team - No! Do you owe them an explanation - No! But, stopping long enough to relax their natural resistance will make your job as a leader so much easier and so much more effective.