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!
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Sunday, December 12, 2010
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!
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!
Saturday, December 4, 2010
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.
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.
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