In my last article I discussed the importance of working with trusted professionals who have built a strong relationship with prospects that you would most likely serve in the future. They are centers of influence that complement your business rather than compete with your business.
This week finishes the Life Transitions chapter that will be published this summer in collaboration with Brian Tracy and other authors. I hope you realize the power behind this concept and what it can do for your business. Here are seven things you can do to start harnessing the power of Life Transitions for your business and become an important part of your customers’ lives.
First, identify the specific Life Transitions your current customers may be experiencing. If it’s not obvious, ask them questions to learn more about their situation and what motivates them to seek your products, and how does it benefit them. If you discover more than one Life Transition, prioritize them and examine the effectiveness of your current marketing strategy to attract individuals in the various transition points. For example, if you own a furniture store, you might identify these prior transition points: Moving to the area, buying a new home, birth of a child, etc.
Second, examine the Life Transitions that precede the one that motivates your customers to come to your business. Draw a timeline and label the specific transition points in relation to the one you primarily service. You may notice that some points are directly connected and occur shortly prior to the Life Transition that motivates your customers to come to you, or they may be at the same transition point and much earlier in the process. Other transition points will occur over a longer period of time on average. If the primary Life Transition that motivates people to buy from a furniture store is people moving into the area, then they will have also bought or rented a house recently.
Third, list the business categories and specific businesses that serve each of the Life Transitions identified in the second step. Using the example of a new home rental or purchase from the second step, you could list realtors, apartment complexes, and property management companies as the business categories. Once you’ve identified the categories, look through your local directory to list specific businesses serving each category.
Forth, identify what’s in it for them to work with your business. This will vary for each type of business and each business owner. Some professions do not allow a financial reward, while it may be the standard practice for others. Some may be more than happy to refer their customers to you once they feel you will deal with their customers professionally and provide outstanding service. In other words, you must sell yourself to the business owner, and then discuss how the relationship can be mutually beneficial.
Fifth, contact the business owners or managers to discuss your proposal to work together. This can be an informal visit over the phone or in person that is concluded with a handshake, or it could involve a letter of agreement to formally establish the relationship and expectations of each other. Make it convenient to refer your business by providing business cards, brochures, and other materials that will make it easy to recommend your business.
Sixth, follow-up frequently and keep the relationship active. Just like any other relationship, you must continue to make contact and communicate the results of the individuals or companies referred to your business. You are building an ongoing relationship to develop greater trust and benefit among everyone involved.
Seventh, analyze the Life Transitions your customers experience during or after you have served them. You want to do this for several reasons:
• By fully understanding and empathizing with what your customers are experiencing, you can provide better service to them and also refer them to other highly-qualified businesses that will take care of their additional needs.
• You could earn some form of a reward if the customer makes a purchase based on your referral. Again, this will depend on the type of business and the laws that regulate compensation.
• You may expand the products or services you provide to better satisfy that specific Life Transition and earn additional income. Using the furniture store example, you may discover that new parents are buying rockers, but many of them are complaining about the lack of quality cribs and other related furniture, so you could expand your product line to include baby furniture.
Your ability to work with complementary businesses in the same or different Life Transitions will improve as you continue to build a strong network where each business benefits. Over time, you’ll receive more qualified referrals, your marketing will be much more effective, and your profits will increase.
The 30,000-foot perspective offers a greater view for your business to serve your customers better by being there before they need you. It will also allow you to gain a competitive edge by positioning your business as the best and only choice for a successful transition, even in a crowded Life Transition intersection.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Building Beneficial Relationships With Complementary Businesses, Part III
Last week I talked about developing relationships with complementary organizations, and how they are the key to positioning your business as the best choice amongst a gaggle of competitors. Complementary businesses are focused on the same prospects as your business at an earlier moment on the timeline, and prior to the Life Transition intersection where most of your competitors are figuratively gathered.
Developing mutually beneficial relationships with these businesses means that they will recommend your products and services to prospects who are highly qualified. Using the example of an engaged couple, they would visit a jeweler early in their preparations to get married. At the lower level of a business relationship, the jewelry store will have the business cards or brochures on their counter for couples to take that promote other companies that will be visited in the future. At the highest level of the business relationship, the jewelry store owner and staff would highly recommend the services of a business they trust to assist the couple with the success of their wedding.
A key concept is for you to work with trusted professionals who are reputable because of their excellent customer-focused orientation, are respected by their peers and clients, and their recommendations are warmly welcomed. The result of nurturing a mutually beneficial relationship with a trusted professional is you will be associated with a strong center of influence that refers qualified prospects who already trust you to offer the best Life Transition solution to their wants and needs.
As you develop more relationships with complementary businesses that cater to your prospects at a Life Transition intersection prior to the transition point you serve, you will create an ongoing stream of referrals. You will also begin to position your business as a trusted source because of the regular recommendations from other trusted, complementary businesses.
Years ago, before the Internet became a powerful marketing tool, I noticed that many of my clients served engaged couples as a common customer. They were all advertising in the same media with about the same message as their competitors and waiting for the couples to contact them. I worked with them for about a year to fine-tune a program that got the names of newly engaged couples and asked them to complete a checklist of the items they were still planning to purchase.
The couples were mailed a packet that included a checklist, useful information, and coupons from the businesses I worked with, and my clients received a useful database of names and the items the couple still needed so they could be contacted directly. Each of the businesses worked collaboratively to preempt the marketing efforts of their competitors, and the competition didn’t even know what was happening because we didn’t use conventional media to promote it.
This is a more complicated method to work in cooperation with several businesses in a strategic alliance. However, you can develop simpler Life Transition relationships working one-on-one with complementary businesses. Once you grasp the power of harnessing Life Transitions in your business and how you can become a part of your prospect’s life prior to their need for your goods and services, you’ll easily identify ways to keep customers loyal to your business and create a greater lifetime value from your customers.
To identify the complementary businesses that you can start working with, think of your most valuable target customer group and put them in the middle of a piece of paper with a circle around them. With the example I’ve been using, “engaged couples” would be in the center and circled. Now draw spokes radiating from the center circle and list all of the different categories of businesses the couple and their families will visit to prepare for their wedding. For example, the engaged couple will be visiting jewelers, restaurants, photographers, bakers, reception centers, etc.
Now that you have a list of non-competing and complementary businesses that serve your target market, the next step is to imagine the sequence or priority when each of the businesses would typically be visited so you can identify the businesses that will be seen prior to visiting your business.
Make a list of the specific businesses in each of the categories and identify those organizations that have the best reputation, and have built the strongest relationships with their customers. You will want to approach the best companies at the top on your list. In next week’s article, I’ll wrap up this series by sharing seven specific steps that you can take to make effective use of your prospects’ and customers’ Life Transitions.
Developing mutually beneficial relationships with these businesses means that they will recommend your products and services to prospects who are highly qualified. Using the example of an engaged couple, they would visit a jeweler early in their preparations to get married. At the lower level of a business relationship, the jewelry store will have the business cards or brochures on their counter for couples to take that promote other companies that will be visited in the future. At the highest level of the business relationship, the jewelry store owner and staff would highly recommend the services of a business they trust to assist the couple with the success of their wedding.
A key concept is for you to work with trusted professionals who are reputable because of their excellent customer-focused orientation, are respected by their peers and clients, and their recommendations are warmly welcomed. The result of nurturing a mutually beneficial relationship with a trusted professional is you will be associated with a strong center of influence that refers qualified prospects who already trust you to offer the best Life Transition solution to their wants and needs.
As you develop more relationships with complementary businesses that cater to your prospects at a Life Transition intersection prior to the transition point you serve, you will create an ongoing stream of referrals. You will also begin to position your business as a trusted source because of the regular recommendations from other trusted, complementary businesses.
Years ago, before the Internet became a powerful marketing tool, I noticed that many of my clients served engaged couples as a common customer. They were all advertising in the same media with about the same message as their competitors and waiting for the couples to contact them. I worked with them for about a year to fine-tune a program that got the names of newly engaged couples and asked them to complete a checklist of the items they were still planning to purchase.
The couples were mailed a packet that included a checklist, useful information, and coupons from the businesses I worked with, and my clients received a useful database of names and the items the couple still needed so they could be contacted directly. Each of the businesses worked collaboratively to preempt the marketing efforts of their competitors, and the competition didn’t even know what was happening because we didn’t use conventional media to promote it.
This is a more complicated method to work in cooperation with several businesses in a strategic alliance. However, you can develop simpler Life Transition relationships working one-on-one with complementary businesses. Once you grasp the power of harnessing Life Transitions in your business and how you can become a part of your prospect’s life prior to their need for your goods and services, you’ll easily identify ways to keep customers loyal to your business and create a greater lifetime value from your customers.
To identify the complementary businesses that you can start working with, think of your most valuable target customer group and put them in the middle of a piece of paper with a circle around them. With the example I’ve been using, “engaged couples” would be in the center and circled. Now draw spokes radiating from the center circle and list all of the different categories of businesses the couple and their families will visit to prepare for their wedding. For example, the engaged couple will be visiting jewelers, restaurants, photographers, bakers, reception centers, etc.
Now that you have a list of non-competing and complementary businesses that serve your target market, the next step is to imagine the sequence or priority when each of the businesses would typically be visited so you can identify the businesses that will be seen prior to visiting your business.
Make a list of the specific businesses in each of the categories and identify those organizations that have the best reputation, and have built the strongest relationships with their customers. You will want to approach the best companies at the top on your list. In next week’s article, I’ll wrap up this series by sharing seven specific steps that you can take to make effective use of your prospects’ and customers’ Life Transitions.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
A 30,000 Foot Perspective of Business, Pt. II
Last week I shared the concept of viewing your customers from a metaphorical 30,000-foot perspective. This means that you take a much broader, three-dimensional look at them on their journey through life, and prior to the point where they have a need for your product. That point on their life map is represented by the “intersection” where you and your competitors are vying for their attention with similar media and advertising. If you were the first business to grab their attention prior to the point where they have a desire for your goods or services, then you would be in a better position to establish your business as a trusted professional, and effectively eliminate the competition as a choice.
Business is ultimately about attracting and keeping customers by offering solutions with goods and services that uniquely satisfy their wants and needs. Those wants and needs will change as they move through life, and they are heightened when they experience specific events at the intersection of their lives that create added stress and require additional solutions. I refer to these events and changes as “Life Transitions,” and they act as milestones, or intermediate reference points in a person’s life. Almost all of our memories are established during transition points, or moments where life changing decisions are made that can take us on another route – for better or worse. Good decisions make good stories that we remember, and bad decisions make great stories that we never forget.
The starting point for everyone is birth and their final destination is to have lived a fulfilling life when their journey is complete. In between those two positions are numerous transition points throughout life that challenge a person to look for individuals and organizations that can provide better solutions to their wants and needs. Some of the major Life Transitions that many people will travel through on their life’s journey include parenting, starting school, employment and career development, engagement and wedding, pregnancy and birth, celebrating special events, moving and relocation, purchasing or renting a house, starting and growing a business, taking care of health issues, retirement, divorce, and coping with the death of a loved one.
When you view the lives of your prospects from a heightened perspective, you’ll see how each Life Transition is part of the continuous journey your prospects will encounter on their timeline road. The transitions also create stress in a good or bad way, and act as catalysts to trigger new needs and wants that were latent or did not previously exist. This drives individuals to seek out goods and services that they are motivated to purchase soon.
For example, when a couple becomes engaged, the event triggers a slew of needs and wants that will need to be satisfied before the eventual marriage. The bride, groom, and families will need rings, a cake, announcements, decorations, tuxedos, dresses, a bridal gown, photos, catered food, etc. Some businesses earn a large portion of their revenue catering to couples who are experiencing this particular Life Transition.
In addition, one Life Transition can be the catalyst for several other transitions. For example, when a couple weds, they may have graduated from school, are planning to move to a new location, and will possibly start a new career. In the near future, they may have a baby and experience parenting.
At the present moment, many of the prospects in your target market may be experiencing a specific Life Transition that connects them with you. Imagine, though, if you could figuratively use Google Maps to view your prospect’s life at the ground level, and then increase the altitude to an elevation that allows you to view all their Life Transition intersections that are before and after the ones you best serve.
Often, the specific Life Transition that you and all your competitors center your marketing efforts around is preceded by one or more transition points that are the focus of other non-competing businesses that are gathered at the intersections your prospects just left. Instead of doing what all your competitors do by figuratively standing at your prospect’s specific Life Transition intersection and just waiting for them to show up and take notice of your business, you should also develop beneficial relationships with those non-competing and complementary businesses.
I call them complementary businesses because they are focused on the same prospects as your business, but they are positioned earlier in the Life Transition intersection. In the wedding example, after a ring is purchased at the jewelry store and the bride accepts the proposal, many other businesses will be visited prior to the wedding date, such as flower shops and reception centers, to complete the process that ensures a successful wedding. It makes sense that a business visited later in the timeline should develop a mutually beneficial relationship with complementary businesses visited earlier in the timeline.
Business is ultimately about attracting and keeping customers by offering solutions with goods and services that uniquely satisfy their wants and needs. Those wants and needs will change as they move through life, and they are heightened when they experience specific events at the intersection of their lives that create added stress and require additional solutions. I refer to these events and changes as “Life Transitions,” and they act as milestones, or intermediate reference points in a person’s life. Almost all of our memories are established during transition points, or moments where life changing decisions are made that can take us on another route – for better or worse. Good decisions make good stories that we remember, and bad decisions make great stories that we never forget.
The starting point for everyone is birth and their final destination is to have lived a fulfilling life when their journey is complete. In between those two positions are numerous transition points throughout life that challenge a person to look for individuals and organizations that can provide better solutions to their wants and needs. Some of the major Life Transitions that many people will travel through on their life’s journey include parenting, starting school, employment and career development, engagement and wedding, pregnancy and birth, celebrating special events, moving and relocation, purchasing or renting a house, starting and growing a business, taking care of health issues, retirement, divorce, and coping with the death of a loved one.
When you view the lives of your prospects from a heightened perspective, you’ll see how each Life Transition is part of the continuous journey your prospects will encounter on their timeline road. The transitions also create stress in a good or bad way, and act as catalysts to trigger new needs and wants that were latent or did not previously exist. This drives individuals to seek out goods and services that they are motivated to purchase soon.
For example, when a couple becomes engaged, the event triggers a slew of needs and wants that will need to be satisfied before the eventual marriage. The bride, groom, and families will need rings, a cake, announcements, decorations, tuxedos, dresses, a bridal gown, photos, catered food, etc. Some businesses earn a large portion of their revenue catering to couples who are experiencing this particular Life Transition.
In addition, one Life Transition can be the catalyst for several other transitions. For example, when a couple weds, they may have graduated from school, are planning to move to a new location, and will possibly start a new career. In the near future, they may have a baby and experience parenting.
At the present moment, many of the prospects in your target market may be experiencing a specific Life Transition that connects them with you. Imagine, though, if you could figuratively use Google Maps to view your prospect’s life at the ground level, and then increase the altitude to an elevation that allows you to view all their Life Transition intersections that are before and after the ones you best serve.
Often, the specific Life Transition that you and all your competitors center your marketing efforts around is preceded by one or more transition points that are the focus of other non-competing businesses that are gathered at the intersections your prospects just left. Instead of doing what all your competitors do by figuratively standing at your prospect’s specific Life Transition intersection and just waiting for them to show up and take notice of your business, you should also develop beneficial relationships with those non-competing and complementary businesses.
I call them complementary businesses because they are focused on the same prospects as your business, but they are positioned earlier in the Life Transition intersection. In the wedding example, after a ring is purchased at the jewelry store and the bride accepts the proposal, many other businesses will be visited prior to the wedding date, such as flower shops and reception centers, to complete the process that ensures a successful wedding. It makes sense that a business visited later in the timeline should develop a mutually beneficial relationship with complementary businesses visited earlier in the timeline.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
A 30,000 Foot Perspective of Business
I was working with over 20 clients in the U.S. when I stumbled onto the concept of building strategic alliances around moments called “Life Transitions.” The need for goods and services is intensified during such events as marriage, parenting, moving, and death. By developing a collaborative process among my clients, they were able to achieve increased brand awareness, more referrals, and ultimately greater sales and profits.
I’ve been developing a website for several months that will provide businesses with an automated, lead generation system by focusing on over 17 major Life Transitions most people will experience on their life’s journey. The goal is to position clients in each Life Transition as a trusted professional who offers outstanding solutions to the challenges experienced by people during each transition.
In the next few columns, I want to share a powerful concept about how you can position your business to become the best and only choice to your target customers, even if you’re in a crowded competitive group. These articles are actually a chapter in a book that I am contributing as an author with management guru, Brian Tracy. The book is scheduled to be published this summer and the following is the first of four articles that will comprise the chapter…
Flying in the Air Force provided an interesting three-dimensional perspective that opened my mind to the big picture in business. While flying between Abilene and San Angelo, Texas, I could see both cities on either side of the cockpit. The 90-mile distance between the two cities would normally take me about one and a-half hours to drive; however, flying between them from a 30,000-foot perspective allowed me to see both cities at once.
Time seemed to slow down as I looked down at the spec of cars traveling on a thread of road because the cars seemed to be moving at an ant’s pace, and I could easily see most of the landmarks and intersections they had passed or would eventually encounter. Their limited perspective from ground level only allowed them to see a few thousand feet ahead or behind them, and it would take more than an hour before they could catch their first glimpse of their final destination.
Driving is a two-dimensional process that can be planned with a map to travel from a starting point to the end location. There are intermediate transition points of reference such as geographic landmarks, cities, and intersections that act as reference points to gauge a traveler’s progress.
Business planning is similarly looked at as a two-dimensional planning process that has a starting point and a final destination. Milestones along the route help gauge the progress of the business as transition points are passed.
Part of the planning process includes identifying groups of potential customers in various target markets, and then developing a strategy to effectively entice them to buy from your business. The marketing section typically takes a two-dimensional approach by looking at individuals who have an immediate need for your product. The plan also tends to use marketing messages and media that are very similar and easily accessible to your competition.
Using the driving analogy with your prospects moving along a road that symbolizes a timeline, they would approach a busy intersection where you and your competitors are gathered. As they continue to move through the intersection, all of your competitors are trying to grab your attention, similar to a political group gathered at an intersection, by waving brightly colored signs and screaming for the prospects to stop and buy from them. This creates confusion because of the numerous and similar messages that are promoted in the same media, and it positions each business as a commodity that is very similar to every other business vying for their attention.
What difference would it make in your business if your message was the first and only one they noticed, and you and your staff were viewed as trusted professionals who could best satisfy their wants and needs? Obviously, that’s a dream position to be in, and next week you’ll learn how it can become a reality for your business if you look at your future customers from a 30,000-foot perspective, and understand how you can distinctively position your business before they need what you have to offer.
I’ve been developing a website for several months that will provide businesses with an automated, lead generation system by focusing on over 17 major Life Transitions most people will experience on their life’s journey. The goal is to position clients in each Life Transition as a trusted professional who offers outstanding solutions to the challenges experienced by people during each transition.
In the next few columns, I want to share a powerful concept about how you can position your business to become the best and only choice to your target customers, even if you’re in a crowded competitive group. These articles are actually a chapter in a book that I am contributing as an author with management guru, Brian Tracy. The book is scheduled to be published this summer and the following is the first of four articles that will comprise the chapter…
Flying in the Air Force provided an interesting three-dimensional perspective that opened my mind to the big picture in business. While flying between Abilene and San Angelo, Texas, I could see both cities on either side of the cockpit. The 90-mile distance between the two cities would normally take me about one and a-half hours to drive; however, flying between them from a 30,000-foot perspective allowed me to see both cities at once.
Time seemed to slow down as I looked down at the spec of cars traveling on a thread of road because the cars seemed to be moving at an ant’s pace, and I could easily see most of the landmarks and intersections they had passed or would eventually encounter. Their limited perspective from ground level only allowed them to see a few thousand feet ahead or behind them, and it would take more than an hour before they could catch their first glimpse of their final destination.
Driving is a two-dimensional process that can be planned with a map to travel from a starting point to the end location. There are intermediate transition points of reference such as geographic landmarks, cities, and intersections that act as reference points to gauge a traveler’s progress.
Business planning is similarly looked at as a two-dimensional planning process that has a starting point and a final destination. Milestones along the route help gauge the progress of the business as transition points are passed.
Part of the planning process includes identifying groups of potential customers in various target markets, and then developing a strategy to effectively entice them to buy from your business. The marketing section typically takes a two-dimensional approach by looking at individuals who have an immediate need for your product. The plan also tends to use marketing messages and media that are very similar and easily accessible to your competition.
Using the driving analogy with your prospects moving along a road that symbolizes a timeline, they would approach a busy intersection where you and your competitors are gathered. As they continue to move through the intersection, all of your competitors are trying to grab your attention, similar to a political group gathered at an intersection, by waving brightly colored signs and screaming for the prospects to stop and buy from them. This creates confusion because of the numerous and similar messages that are promoted in the same media, and it positions each business as a commodity that is very similar to every other business vying for their attention.
What difference would it make in your business if your message was the first and only one they noticed, and you and your staff were viewed as trusted professionals who could best satisfy their wants and needs? Obviously, that’s a dream position to be in, and next week you’ll learn how it can become a reality for your business if you look at your future customers from a 30,000-foot perspective, and understand how you can distinctively position your business before they need what you have to offer.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Paradigm Shifts in Service
While I was attending an intensive, 10-day training program in Las Vegas for a business coaching franchise, I went on a tour at the headquarters of Zappos.com. It was an insightful visit that presented concepts that flew in the face of conventional business practices; yet, has allowed the company to achieve phenomenal growth.
In case you haven’t heard of Zappos.com, they started in 1999 and after making minimal gross sales their first year, they went on to earn $1.6 million in 2000 selling shoes online. Now, I don’t know about you, but I’ve rarely bought shoes online because it’s one of those things that you need to try on first and walk around a bit to make sure the shoes are a right fit.
Well, there must be a lot of people that don’t think like me because their sales continued to grow each year because their focus was on giving great service. CEO Tony Hsieh summarized a paradigm shift that helped reposition the company to achieve meteoric growth by stating: “back in 2003, we thought of ourselves as a shoe company that offered great service. Today, we really think of the Zappos brand as about great service, and we just happen to sell shoes."
A paradigm shift is basically a change from one way of thinking to another, sort of a mindset metamorphosis where individuals begin to think in a new and different way. The term was first coined by Thomas Kuhn when he argued that scientific advancement is a “series of peaceful interludes punctuated by intellectually violent revolutions,” and those revolutions have “one conceptual world view replaced by another.”
With Zappos.com, it is a subtle shift in the ultimate purpose of the company, and the critical role everyone has as agents of service who are ready to go above and beyond the expectations of their customers. The company had a goal to reach one billion dollars in sales by 2010, and they achieved it by 2008. When I was there in November, they had just experienced their biggest day on Cyber Monday (a few days after Thanksgiving Day) by answering over 14,000 calls and making sales of $16 million in one day!
I have been a student and teacher of customer service for over 20 years. I developed the first accredited customer service course at Northern Marianas College, have written numerous articles published in the paper on the topic, and have worked with dozens of businesses to implement better service. And from my studies, I have concluded that most service training focuses on making external changes by training employees to smile more, use a person’s name, and behave in a certain manner.
Zappos.com and many other great service companies apply an inside-out approach to service by changing the mindset of its employees and instilling core values that help transform their culture. Values and culture are such an important component of the company, that they have a division that is called the Culture Department. In fact, our tour guide, Rocco, worked in the department and introduced himself a “culture magician.”
Extraordinarily successful companies have achieved paradigm shifts that have separated themselves from the competition and allowed them to achieve outstanding performance. Even though these mindset shifts are simple to understand, they can be very difficult to change in a company because it involves a change in attitude, thoughts, and behaviors that must start at the top and be sustained at the bottom. In other words, there has to be a cultural shift among everyone in the organization. I believe that the companies that will survive and continue to thrive are those that are currently implementing important paradigm shifts or who will learn to make them a part of their business in the future.
In case you haven’t heard of Zappos.com, they started in 1999 and after making minimal gross sales their first year, they went on to earn $1.6 million in 2000 selling shoes online. Now, I don’t know about you, but I’ve rarely bought shoes online because it’s one of those things that you need to try on first and walk around a bit to make sure the shoes are a right fit.
Well, there must be a lot of people that don’t think like me because their sales continued to grow each year because their focus was on giving great service. CEO Tony Hsieh summarized a paradigm shift that helped reposition the company to achieve meteoric growth by stating: “back in 2003, we thought of ourselves as a shoe company that offered great service. Today, we really think of the Zappos brand as about great service, and we just happen to sell shoes."
A paradigm shift is basically a change from one way of thinking to another, sort of a mindset metamorphosis where individuals begin to think in a new and different way. The term was first coined by Thomas Kuhn when he argued that scientific advancement is a “series of peaceful interludes punctuated by intellectually violent revolutions,” and those revolutions have “one conceptual world view replaced by another.”
With Zappos.com, it is a subtle shift in the ultimate purpose of the company, and the critical role everyone has as agents of service who are ready to go above and beyond the expectations of their customers. The company had a goal to reach one billion dollars in sales by 2010, and they achieved it by 2008. When I was there in November, they had just experienced their biggest day on Cyber Monday (a few days after Thanksgiving Day) by answering over 14,000 calls and making sales of $16 million in one day!
I have been a student and teacher of customer service for over 20 years. I developed the first accredited customer service course at Northern Marianas College, have written numerous articles published in the paper on the topic, and have worked with dozens of businesses to implement better service. And from my studies, I have concluded that most service training focuses on making external changes by training employees to smile more, use a person’s name, and behave in a certain manner.
Zappos.com and many other great service companies apply an inside-out approach to service by changing the mindset of its employees and instilling core values that help transform their culture. Values and culture are such an important component of the company, that they have a division that is called the Culture Department. In fact, our tour guide, Rocco, worked in the department and introduced himself a “culture magician.”
Extraordinarily successful companies have achieved paradigm shifts that have separated themselves from the competition and allowed them to achieve outstanding performance. Even though these mindset shifts are simple to understand, they can be very difficult to change in a company because it involves a change in attitude, thoughts, and behaviors that must start at the top and be sustained at the bottom. In other words, there has to be a cultural shift among everyone in the organization. I believe that the companies that will survive and continue to thrive are those that are currently implementing important paradigm shifts or who will learn to make them a part of their business in the future.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Metamorphosis
When the first phase of life as a caterpillar is complete, it moves to a branch and begins to spin a cocoon to transition into a butterfly. This metamorphosis is different from a tadpole that transitions into a frog because the caterpillar undergoes a complete meltdown into a mass of liquid gel. Specific cells, called imago cells, will organize themselves into an entirely new creature that will eventually emerge from its protective shell.
To do this, the butterfly must create an opening large enough that will allow it to escape. Interestingly, the longer the struggle during this transition, the longer the butterfly will live. Well-intentioned individuals who try to “help” the emerging butterfly break through the cocoon often cause more harm than good because the new creature needs to exert enough effort to pump fluids into the small, unformed wings. If this doesn’t occur, the wings are not developed enough for it to fly away to safety and find food, and it will eventually die.
As humans, we go through numerous transitions in life that can motivate us to change as we experience life’s struggles. A successful “metamorphosis” occurs when we are able to learn the lessons that life presents to us. If we avoid or ignore the struggles, we may not learn the important lessons that will allow us to progress toward a more fulfilled person.
This progress may involve deep introspection that causes us to examine our current beliefs and realities, and ask ourselves if we are happy with the way things are right now. Interestingly, the less we have to struggle, the less we will learn from the lesson, and the more likely we will have to deal with similar struggles in the future. Often, our greatest growth will come from experiences that cause a “meltdown.” At this point we might become unrecognizable to ourselves and others as we examine how we have arrived at a particular point in life, determine what we want to become in the future, and then make the decision to reshape ourselves into a new and better person.
Knowing our values and beliefs allows us to lay a foundation upon which we can form a specific image of the person we wish to become. If our struggle is shortened by well-intentioned groups, persons or programs, then we may not fully learn life’s lesson, nor transform into the person we are destined to become, and instead of evolving into a better person we devolve into a bitter person.
It may be instinctive to reach out to others and take the pain away from those who are struggling. However, unless the situation is life-threatening or could cause long-term harm, our efforts to help might shortchange the growth process and deny the person the challenge that is necessary for them to transform in a more mature and joyous person.
Social programs are great to help struggling individuals to get back on their feet; however, they can backfire by creating a culture of dependency on others that turns those helped into helpless individuals. It denies them the challenges they need to become more self-reliant and fulfilled. This nature is then passed on to the next generations, where the assistance becomes an entitlement that limits them from developing into fully capable individuals who contribute back to society.
To break this dependency cycle, one must realize that the struggle is part of the growth process. It will take three key characteristics to emerge from the cocoon of safety: 1) Commitment to our future self, 2) persistence to not quit when the going gets tough, and 3) developing new life skills and strategies that will allow us to remain independent.
If we have a specific image of the person we want to become in our mind, stay focused and committed to a course of action that will allow us to fully develop, and then implement the new skills and strategies necessary to make a successful transition into a new and better person, then we can continue this process when we have new challenges we must face.
Do you have what it takes to meet life’s challenges head on and gain the strength to be a new and better person, or will you remain in a cocoon of safety? Leadership and life are about growing through each of our challenges and experiencing transformations that eventually allow us to fly above them and create a new life that is more fulfilling and an inspiration to others. The question isn’t if you’ll experience a life transition, but instead the quality of your experience as you transition through life.
To do this, the butterfly must create an opening large enough that will allow it to escape. Interestingly, the longer the struggle during this transition, the longer the butterfly will live. Well-intentioned individuals who try to “help” the emerging butterfly break through the cocoon often cause more harm than good because the new creature needs to exert enough effort to pump fluids into the small, unformed wings. If this doesn’t occur, the wings are not developed enough for it to fly away to safety and find food, and it will eventually die.
As humans, we go through numerous transitions in life that can motivate us to change as we experience life’s struggles. A successful “metamorphosis” occurs when we are able to learn the lessons that life presents to us. If we avoid or ignore the struggles, we may not learn the important lessons that will allow us to progress toward a more fulfilled person.
This progress may involve deep introspection that causes us to examine our current beliefs and realities, and ask ourselves if we are happy with the way things are right now. Interestingly, the less we have to struggle, the less we will learn from the lesson, and the more likely we will have to deal with similar struggles in the future. Often, our greatest growth will come from experiences that cause a “meltdown.” At this point we might become unrecognizable to ourselves and others as we examine how we have arrived at a particular point in life, determine what we want to become in the future, and then make the decision to reshape ourselves into a new and better person.
Knowing our values and beliefs allows us to lay a foundation upon which we can form a specific image of the person we wish to become. If our struggle is shortened by well-intentioned groups, persons or programs, then we may not fully learn life’s lesson, nor transform into the person we are destined to become, and instead of evolving into a better person we devolve into a bitter person.
It may be instinctive to reach out to others and take the pain away from those who are struggling. However, unless the situation is life-threatening or could cause long-term harm, our efforts to help might shortchange the growth process and deny the person the challenge that is necessary for them to transform in a more mature and joyous person.
Social programs are great to help struggling individuals to get back on their feet; however, they can backfire by creating a culture of dependency on others that turns those helped into helpless individuals. It denies them the challenges they need to become more self-reliant and fulfilled. This nature is then passed on to the next generations, where the assistance becomes an entitlement that limits them from developing into fully capable individuals who contribute back to society.
To break this dependency cycle, one must realize that the struggle is part of the growth process. It will take three key characteristics to emerge from the cocoon of safety: 1) Commitment to our future self, 2) persistence to not quit when the going gets tough, and 3) developing new life skills and strategies that will allow us to remain independent.
If we have a specific image of the person we want to become in our mind, stay focused and committed to a course of action that will allow us to fully develop, and then implement the new skills and strategies necessary to make a successful transition into a new and better person, then we can continue this process when we have new challenges we must face.
Do you have what it takes to meet life’s challenges head on and gain the strength to be a new and better person, or will you remain in a cocoon of safety? Leadership and life are about growing through each of our challenges and experiencing transformations that eventually allow us to fly above them and create a new life that is more fulfilling and an inspiration to others. The question isn’t if you’ll experience a life transition, but instead the quality of your experience as you transition through life.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Great People
I recently went to a laboratory to have my blood and urine analyzed as part of my regular health check up. I was told by the physician to go to the location that I had been to several times in the past, but when I arrived on the appointed day, the place was empty inside and a paper was taped to the window stating that the company had moved to the second floor of a larger and nicer building.
I wondered how many other individuals made the wasted trip. That was one strike against the company for not informing the medical clinics and physicians about their move. I’ll spare the name of the business, even though they enjoy a virtual monopoly on the island.
When I arrived at the new location, I went to the second floor and wandered around for a few minutes looking for a sign with the name of the company. On my second trip around I noticed some people sitting in a large room, so I looked at another piece of regular paper taped to the door with their name on it. Strike two for cheap signs and lack of professionalism. I have some hope that the next interaction will be positive after I read their slogan: “Great Science. Great People.”
The chairs were lined up like a workshop with a TV screen in the front, but it was turned off. No one was there to greet me, nor were there signs to say what to do. I walked over to a desk and saw a clipboard with a few names on it, and asked one of the individuals waiting if we were supposed to sign in. She said “yes,” so I signed in and sat down and waited for a few minutes until a gentleman called my name.
Okay, here was one of the “great people” I was going to be dealing with, but there was no greeting, he only asked for my insurance card, and then told me to sign a paper that had some wording as part of their contract. I started reading it and he seemed annoyed that I was actually reading something before signing it. I was then told to have a seat while he processed my paperwork.
A few more minutes go by and then I hear “Come with me,” and the individual gets up and walks off. I look up and there are a couple of people seated with me, and I’m not sure if it was for me, so I wait until he appears at the doorway and tells me again to come.
I’m now seated and my blood is taken, then I’m told he needs some “pee-pee.” Luckily, I understand his less-than-scientific terminology, having raised several children and having used the same word often when they were babies. However, each interaction I’m having with the “great people” of this company, is making me question the “great science” they’re going to use to analyze my bodily fluids.
I’m ready to leave at this point, but they’ve already got my blood, so I might as well leave my pee-pee. The restroom is clean, but then I notice that there is no trash receptacle in the room. I’m pretty creative, so I make do and when I go to wash my hands there is no soap in the container. Okay, I’m really losing confidence in this place as a professional facility.
When I finally leave the restroom with my pee-pee container in hand, I see that they’ve conveniently placed the trash can on the outside of the door. I point out to the individual that there is no trash receptacle in the bathroom, and he just shrugs and tells me to place my sample on a shelf with other samples. I checked to make sure my name is spelled correctly - at this point they have just struck out and I have lost all confidence in their great people, and their great science is waning in my mind.
As a business person, my thoughts quickly move to see what would need to happen to compete successfully against this company and knock it off its monopolistic pedestal. The equipment can be purchased, and the science part can be hired out or outsourced. The great people may be more difficult to find, but they can be trained. With great customer service, communication, and strong relationships built with the local medical clinics, there would be another option for patients to have their lab work done.
Would a medical clinic rather send their patients with confidence to a lab that takes care of their people vs. the cattle car of an operation that fronts itself as a laboratory? I think so.
I once had a wise business person jokingly tell me that the reason he was so successful was because he’s no worse than the competition. In reality, he made sure his business had great service, great products, and great people to deliver them. In a down economy that we’re experience, it is risky to treat people as just another number, and essential to make them a valued customer.
I wondered how many other individuals made the wasted trip. That was one strike against the company for not informing the medical clinics and physicians about their move. I’ll spare the name of the business, even though they enjoy a virtual monopoly on the island.
When I arrived at the new location, I went to the second floor and wandered around for a few minutes looking for a sign with the name of the company. On my second trip around I noticed some people sitting in a large room, so I looked at another piece of regular paper taped to the door with their name on it. Strike two for cheap signs and lack of professionalism. I have some hope that the next interaction will be positive after I read their slogan: “Great Science. Great People.”
The chairs were lined up like a workshop with a TV screen in the front, but it was turned off. No one was there to greet me, nor were there signs to say what to do. I walked over to a desk and saw a clipboard with a few names on it, and asked one of the individuals waiting if we were supposed to sign in. She said “yes,” so I signed in and sat down and waited for a few minutes until a gentleman called my name.
Okay, here was one of the “great people” I was going to be dealing with, but there was no greeting, he only asked for my insurance card, and then told me to sign a paper that had some wording as part of their contract. I started reading it and he seemed annoyed that I was actually reading something before signing it. I was then told to have a seat while he processed my paperwork.
A few more minutes go by and then I hear “Come with me,” and the individual gets up and walks off. I look up and there are a couple of people seated with me, and I’m not sure if it was for me, so I wait until he appears at the doorway and tells me again to come.
I’m now seated and my blood is taken, then I’m told he needs some “pee-pee.” Luckily, I understand his less-than-scientific terminology, having raised several children and having used the same word often when they were babies. However, each interaction I’m having with the “great people” of this company, is making me question the “great science” they’re going to use to analyze my bodily fluids.
I’m ready to leave at this point, but they’ve already got my blood, so I might as well leave my pee-pee. The restroom is clean, but then I notice that there is no trash receptacle in the room. I’m pretty creative, so I make do and when I go to wash my hands there is no soap in the container. Okay, I’m really losing confidence in this place as a professional facility.
When I finally leave the restroom with my pee-pee container in hand, I see that they’ve conveniently placed the trash can on the outside of the door. I point out to the individual that there is no trash receptacle in the bathroom, and he just shrugs and tells me to place my sample on a shelf with other samples. I checked to make sure my name is spelled correctly - at this point they have just struck out and I have lost all confidence in their great people, and their great science is waning in my mind.
As a business person, my thoughts quickly move to see what would need to happen to compete successfully against this company and knock it off its monopolistic pedestal. The equipment can be purchased, and the science part can be hired out or outsourced. The great people may be more difficult to find, but they can be trained. With great customer service, communication, and strong relationships built with the local medical clinics, there would be another option for patients to have their lab work done.
Would a medical clinic rather send their patients with confidence to a lab that takes care of their people vs. the cattle car of an operation that fronts itself as a laboratory? I think so.
I once had a wise business person jokingly tell me that the reason he was so successful was because he’s no worse than the competition. In reality, he made sure his business had great service, great products, and great people to deliver them. In a down economy that we’re experience, it is risky to treat people as just another number, and essential to make them a valued customer.
Perturbation
Perturbation is an interesting word that describes change, especially agitation from the status quo. A perturbation of a biological system is a change in the external or internal environment. This can occur from temperature changes, pressure changes, toxins, drugs, etc.
Celestial bodies can experience perturbation when there is a disturbance of their regular orbit because of the attraction of neighboring planets. For example, perturbations in Neptune’s orbit led to the discovery of the planet Pluto, and perturbations in the orbit of stars have led to the discovery of other planetary systems.
The CNMI in general and individuals specifically are experiencing perturbation from the various activities that are impacting their normal routine. For example, the external events such as the changes in labor and immigration are affecting the personal lives of individuals and thus creating stresses that weren’t there before in the lives of the individuals and their families, as well as employers and customers. Other factors that have an impact are the economy, self-serving political bills and initiatives, and world events that have a ripple effect on the islands.
These influences cause slight to severe deviations that disrupt the status quo and puts programs, processes, and people in an uncomfortable situation that requires some adjustments – sometimes for the better. What might have worked in the past is now ineffective and a new set of strategies and systems are needed to create similar or better results.
Leaders will sometimes create perturbation intentionally to place additional pressures on their followers so that they are forced to discover new solutions. What was working in the past either isn’t producing the same results or the results the leader expects. I’ve known several leaders who announced that they were intentionally turning the organization upside down so they could shake their people out of complacency. The mantra of “that’s how we’ve always done it here” wasn’t working and change was needed right away.
If you think about it, many of your changes from routine patterns were caused by internal or external events that bumped you out of your comfort zone. People are creatures of habit, and usually will not stray far from their areas of comfort before returning to their familiar patterns of behavior. We typically sit in the same places in classes or church, and take the same routes to work or to shop.
Individuals often stay in relationships that aren’t working because they believe it’s too uncomfortable to change, so they will live quiet lives of desperation for years until something bumps them so far out of their comfort zone that they find it more difficult to return.
If you think about it, a breakthrough often follows a breakup, a breakdown, or a break with the ideologies of the past. It’s those rare individuals with a spirit of adventure that have broken speed records, climbed the highest peaks, or discovered new worlds while the rest of humanity was trudging along in their familiar ruts. These individuals intentionally place themselves in a state of perturbation to learn new ways of thinking, make new relationships, and learn new skills that will enable them to better adapt to change.
Trying to operate in the same way while the world around us is changing will only create more stress and ultimately lead to failure. Discovering new ways of thinking, working, and relating will allow us to better adapt to the many changes that are rocking our world.
Are you a creature of habit who gets over-stressed when things aren’t working the way you want them to work? When you find someone sitting in “your seat,” do you get perturbed? If your usual route to work is blocked because of construction, do you get upset, or do you just go with the flow?
Do something today that is out of the ordinary or a change in your routine. We have a new year coming soon, and this is a time when many people set resolutions or goals to accomplish. Set some goals to create perturbation and break you out of familiar routines. Learn a new skill, visit a new place, and make new friends. Soon you’ll make these mini-adventures a part of your life and start to look for bigger adventures that will transform you into a better and more interesting person.
Celestial bodies can experience perturbation when there is a disturbance of their regular orbit because of the attraction of neighboring planets. For example, perturbations in Neptune’s orbit led to the discovery of the planet Pluto, and perturbations in the orbit of stars have led to the discovery of other planetary systems.
The CNMI in general and individuals specifically are experiencing perturbation from the various activities that are impacting their normal routine. For example, the external events such as the changes in labor and immigration are affecting the personal lives of individuals and thus creating stresses that weren’t there before in the lives of the individuals and their families, as well as employers and customers. Other factors that have an impact are the economy, self-serving political bills and initiatives, and world events that have a ripple effect on the islands.
These influences cause slight to severe deviations that disrupt the status quo and puts programs, processes, and people in an uncomfortable situation that requires some adjustments – sometimes for the better. What might have worked in the past is now ineffective and a new set of strategies and systems are needed to create similar or better results.
Leaders will sometimes create perturbation intentionally to place additional pressures on their followers so that they are forced to discover new solutions. What was working in the past either isn’t producing the same results or the results the leader expects. I’ve known several leaders who announced that they were intentionally turning the organization upside down so they could shake their people out of complacency. The mantra of “that’s how we’ve always done it here” wasn’t working and change was needed right away.
If you think about it, many of your changes from routine patterns were caused by internal or external events that bumped you out of your comfort zone. People are creatures of habit, and usually will not stray far from their areas of comfort before returning to their familiar patterns of behavior. We typically sit in the same places in classes or church, and take the same routes to work or to shop.
Individuals often stay in relationships that aren’t working because they believe it’s too uncomfortable to change, so they will live quiet lives of desperation for years until something bumps them so far out of their comfort zone that they find it more difficult to return.
If you think about it, a breakthrough often follows a breakup, a breakdown, or a break with the ideologies of the past. It’s those rare individuals with a spirit of adventure that have broken speed records, climbed the highest peaks, or discovered new worlds while the rest of humanity was trudging along in their familiar ruts. These individuals intentionally place themselves in a state of perturbation to learn new ways of thinking, make new relationships, and learn new skills that will enable them to better adapt to change.
Trying to operate in the same way while the world around us is changing will only create more stress and ultimately lead to failure. Discovering new ways of thinking, working, and relating will allow us to better adapt to the many changes that are rocking our world.
Are you a creature of habit who gets over-stressed when things aren’t working the way you want them to work? When you find someone sitting in “your seat,” do you get perturbed? If your usual route to work is blocked because of construction, do you get upset, or do you just go with the flow?
Do something today that is out of the ordinary or a change in your routine. We have a new year coming soon, and this is a time when many people set resolutions or goals to accomplish. Set some goals to create perturbation and break you out of familiar routines. Learn a new skill, visit a new place, and make new friends. Soon you’ll make these mini-adventures a part of your life and start to look for bigger adventures that will transform you into a better and more interesting person.
Christmas Presence
In a few days, children will wake up with glee to open presents underneath the Christmas tree. The anticipation that has been building up for weeks will come to an end with wrapping paper scattered throughout the house and batteries inserted into high-tech toys that would make Thomas Edison blush with envy.
As a young child, I can remember the difficulty going to bed on Christmas Eve as I thought about my wish list of presents I had picked out from the huge Sears catalog. At the break of dawn, I would wake up and quietly sneak into the living room to see all the colorfully wrapped presents under the lit tree and I would look for my name on the largest boxes, hoping they were mine.
What made that one day particularly exciting was the build-up towards Christmas from the traditions that have been handed down for generations. The Christmas cards, songs, decorations, and food were all part of the ambiance that got people into the season of giving. Christmas has become a worldwide celebration for Christians and non-Christians alike. Sometimes it is difficult to make the distinction because both celebrate similar themes publicly and in their homes.
As I’ve transitioned from believing in Santa Claus to being Santa Claus, I have tried to examine what really makes this season so special for anyone who celebrates it. Traditions are an important part of any celebration, and the giving of gifts has become essential, but what is it that really makes the season so memorable?
In my opinion, it is the presence and not the presents that makes this time so wonderful. Christmas tends to bring people together in a way that rarely happens at any other time of the year. People bond through the giving of gifts, the sharing of food, and the parties and personal moments that cause friends and family to enjoy one another even more. It’s a time to put personal biases and petty differences aside and look at our commonalities as brothers and sisters of the human family.
By becoming present in the moment to the needs of others and showing our concern and sharing our time, talent, or gifts with them, we become better people and help to make the world a better place to live in. Christmas is a time to look deeply inside ourselves and examine how we fit with the world outside ourselves, and realize that we may not be able to change the world, but we can make sure people know we are present.
One way to let others know you are present is to focus more on the moments, rather than the money. Think about your most memorable moments from Christmas past and in most cases it will be filled with the presence of loved ones versus the presents from loved ones. Yes, there are memorable times when you received that extra special gift that stands distinctly out in your mind. However, it was also having someone present to share the moment that made it so special. (Try playing Rock’em Sock’em Robots with yourself.)
The presents act as a catalyst to bring people together and share more of their presence. Having one without the other greatly diminishes the moment. This is especially apparent when loved ones are not present due to geographical distance, work demands, health issues, or military service. The presents they give are a minor substitute for their physical presence that is sorely missed.
This Christmas we will be sharing our presents with all of our children, but as our family has grown and some of the children moved to different parts of the world, we will be missing the presence of four of our children and three grandchildren. One joyous event we will particularly delight in is the reunion of our oldest son Joshua, his wife April and their two children. It will be beyond words for us to welcome them to Saipan for the first time and to share our presence with each other in a way that will hopefully be remembered as a special moment in all our lives.
As you open your presents on Christmas, remember that it is because of the intense love of a Father who was willing to give the presence of his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, that we truly celebrate this day. His greatest gift will not be anything that can be wrapped with a bow, but the opportunity for true believers to enjoy His eternal presence. However you decide to celebrate the season with your presence, I want to wish you and your loved ones a merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” – John 3:5
As a young child, I can remember the difficulty going to bed on Christmas Eve as I thought about my wish list of presents I had picked out from the huge Sears catalog. At the break of dawn, I would wake up and quietly sneak into the living room to see all the colorfully wrapped presents under the lit tree and I would look for my name on the largest boxes, hoping they were mine.
What made that one day particularly exciting was the build-up towards Christmas from the traditions that have been handed down for generations. The Christmas cards, songs, decorations, and food were all part of the ambiance that got people into the season of giving. Christmas has become a worldwide celebration for Christians and non-Christians alike. Sometimes it is difficult to make the distinction because both celebrate similar themes publicly and in their homes.
As I’ve transitioned from believing in Santa Claus to being Santa Claus, I have tried to examine what really makes this season so special for anyone who celebrates it. Traditions are an important part of any celebration, and the giving of gifts has become essential, but what is it that really makes the season so memorable?
In my opinion, it is the presence and not the presents that makes this time so wonderful. Christmas tends to bring people together in a way that rarely happens at any other time of the year. People bond through the giving of gifts, the sharing of food, and the parties and personal moments that cause friends and family to enjoy one another even more. It’s a time to put personal biases and petty differences aside and look at our commonalities as brothers and sisters of the human family.
By becoming present in the moment to the needs of others and showing our concern and sharing our time, talent, or gifts with them, we become better people and help to make the world a better place to live in. Christmas is a time to look deeply inside ourselves and examine how we fit with the world outside ourselves, and realize that we may not be able to change the world, but we can make sure people know we are present.
One way to let others know you are present is to focus more on the moments, rather than the money. Think about your most memorable moments from Christmas past and in most cases it will be filled with the presence of loved ones versus the presents from loved ones. Yes, there are memorable times when you received that extra special gift that stands distinctly out in your mind. However, it was also having someone present to share the moment that made it so special. (Try playing Rock’em Sock’em Robots with yourself.)
The presents act as a catalyst to bring people together and share more of their presence. Having one without the other greatly diminishes the moment. This is especially apparent when loved ones are not present due to geographical distance, work demands, health issues, or military service. The presents they give are a minor substitute for their physical presence that is sorely missed.
This Christmas we will be sharing our presents with all of our children, but as our family has grown and some of the children moved to different parts of the world, we will be missing the presence of four of our children and three grandchildren. One joyous event we will particularly delight in is the reunion of our oldest son Joshua, his wife April and their two children. It will be beyond words for us to welcome them to Saipan for the first time and to share our presence with each other in a way that will hopefully be remembered as a special moment in all our lives.
As you open your presents on Christmas, remember that it is because of the intense love of a Father who was willing to give the presence of his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, that we truly celebrate this day. His greatest gift will not be anything that can be wrapped with a bow, but the opportunity for true believers to enjoy His eternal presence. However you decide to celebrate the season with your presence, I want to wish you and your loved ones a merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” – John 3:5
Greener Pastures
What happens if you have a great product that’s wanted by your customers, impeccable service that gets them to return often, and your marketing campaign looks good; however, you just can’t increase your revenue beyond the loyal customers that you have right now?
You should examine the potential customers that exist in your location to determine if there are enough to sustain your business. For some business owners, the solution to your financial challenge may be to take your business to where there is a market demand for what you have to sell. There are numerous other ways to get your products to those who need and can afford them. The Internet has allowed many companies to sell globally. Going global expands your offering to a larger target market. This can be done through exporting to foreign countries, foreign licensing, and joint ventures. It also involves developing a global strategy. If you have a product that is unique, you may be able to form a strategic alliance with a well-established distributor in another country.
I met an individual who was a U.S. citizen, but had lived in Japan for several years and made some important contacts. His business was to broker deals with U.S. companies who wanted to sell to Japanese customers, but would have a difficult time breaking into the tightly-held distribution system already in place. He earned either a percentage of what sold or was paid a flat fee for his services. His clients benefited by increasing their sales exponentially.
You can also find brokers who will negotiate deals with businesses in numerous other countries that have a demand for what you’re selling. In addition, a product that is on the decline side of their product life cycle in the U.S. may experience a renewed demand in countries that are behind the technology curve. For example, it would be next to impossible to make a living selling the older, manual typewriters; however, in some developing countries or places without adequate electricity, they might be a welcome product.
Location can be an extremely important factor to consider when you start your business. With all other factors the same, you may be able to sell much more of your product in one area of the country than in another. This may be due to a larger population or a more affluent community. Brendan and John Ready were two brothers who grew up in a lobster fisherman family in Maine. They learned the trade from their father and would sell their lobsters off the docks, just as other fishermen did. One day they decided to go against tradition and they drove for two hours to sell their lobsters to wealthy customers at Martha’s Vineyard. The results were worth the inconvenience of the two hour drive because they sold all their lobsters and made three times as much revenue as they would have from selling on the dock.
When I lived in Logan, Utah, Kerry was one of my clients who made his living as a videographer, specializing in wedding videos. His top end video cost about $600, and he didn’t have much money after paying for his expenses. Within a few months of working with him, Kerry more than doubled his sales, but I told him that if he wanted to make more money he was going to have to move to a larger city. I was thinking of Salt Lake City, but he was even thinking bigger and moved to a retirement community in southern Florida that was much more affluent than Logan. There he was able to sell similar videos he made in Logan, but he charged $3,000 or more for them. That’s five times the amount for the same product. Not only was he able to earn more per client, but there were more clients willing to pay his higher fees. Needless to say, Kerry’s sales increased by more than 500 percent and his profits were even greater.
Let’s go back to the Ready brothers and their lobster adventure. After graduating from college, they tested a big breakthrough idea they developed in school called Catch a Piece of Maine. This was a membership club that planned to sell for about $3,000 and it included a dedicated lobsterman, your own lobster trap, and a specific number of gourmet lobsters delivered anywhere in the country. It also included other delicacies from Maine, and each shipment included a DVD of your lobsterman showing your catch before it was shipped, as well as a map of where your lobsters were caught and other personalized gifts.
Many people told the brothers that they were crazy, their idea wouldn’t work, and no one would buy… until the money started pouring in. The brothers had expanded their idea beyond the docks of Maine to sell to individuals who felt the concept was worth more than the high price. Brendan and John Ready weren’t just selling lobsters, they were selling a unique experience that would involve the customers in the lobster catch and turn them into partners by developing a relationship with their lobsterman.
The brothers had a goal to make over $1,000,000 in their first year by selling 400 memberships at $3,000. They ended up selling 200 memberships in their first three months and more than 400 in their first year. In addition, they have enthusiastic customers who are compelled to share their adventure with their friends. If a client has a party where the lobsters are served, they can show the DVD and brag about “their” lobsterman in Maine, who caught the meal for them this morning! You can catch their business at www.CatchAPieceOfMaine.com.
You should examine the potential customers that exist in your location to determine if there are enough to sustain your business. For some business owners, the solution to your financial challenge may be to take your business to where there is a market demand for what you have to sell. There are numerous other ways to get your products to those who need and can afford them. The Internet has allowed many companies to sell globally. Going global expands your offering to a larger target market. This can be done through exporting to foreign countries, foreign licensing, and joint ventures. It also involves developing a global strategy. If you have a product that is unique, you may be able to form a strategic alliance with a well-established distributor in another country.
I met an individual who was a U.S. citizen, but had lived in Japan for several years and made some important contacts. His business was to broker deals with U.S. companies who wanted to sell to Japanese customers, but would have a difficult time breaking into the tightly-held distribution system already in place. He earned either a percentage of what sold or was paid a flat fee for his services. His clients benefited by increasing their sales exponentially.
You can also find brokers who will negotiate deals with businesses in numerous other countries that have a demand for what you’re selling. In addition, a product that is on the decline side of their product life cycle in the U.S. may experience a renewed demand in countries that are behind the technology curve. For example, it would be next to impossible to make a living selling the older, manual typewriters; however, in some developing countries or places without adequate electricity, they might be a welcome product.
Location can be an extremely important factor to consider when you start your business. With all other factors the same, you may be able to sell much more of your product in one area of the country than in another. This may be due to a larger population or a more affluent community. Brendan and John Ready were two brothers who grew up in a lobster fisherman family in Maine. They learned the trade from their father and would sell their lobsters off the docks, just as other fishermen did. One day they decided to go against tradition and they drove for two hours to sell their lobsters to wealthy customers at Martha’s Vineyard. The results were worth the inconvenience of the two hour drive because they sold all their lobsters and made three times as much revenue as they would have from selling on the dock.
When I lived in Logan, Utah, Kerry was one of my clients who made his living as a videographer, specializing in wedding videos. His top end video cost about $600, and he didn’t have much money after paying for his expenses. Within a few months of working with him, Kerry more than doubled his sales, but I told him that if he wanted to make more money he was going to have to move to a larger city. I was thinking of Salt Lake City, but he was even thinking bigger and moved to a retirement community in southern Florida that was much more affluent than Logan. There he was able to sell similar videos he made in Logan, but he charged $3,000 or more for them. That’s five times the amount for the same product. Not only was he able to earn more per client, but there were more clients willing to pay his higher fees. Needless to say, Kerry’s sales increased by more than 500 percent and his profits were even greater.
Let’s go back to the Ready brothers and their lobster adventure. After graduating from college, they tested a big breakthrough idea they developed in school called Catch a Piece of Maine. This was a membership club that planned to sell for about $3,000 and it included a dedicated lobsterman, your own lobster trap, and a specific number of gourmet lobsters delivered anywhere in the country. It also included other delicacies from Maine, and each shipment included a DVD of your lobsterman showing your catch before it was shipped, as well as a map of where your lobsters were caught and other personalized gifts.
Many people told the brothers that they were crazy, their idea wouldn’t work, and no one would buy… until the money started pouring in. The brothers had expanded their idea beyond the docks of Maine to sell to individuals who felt the concept was worth more than the high price. Brendan and John Ready weren’t just selling lobsters, they were selling a unique experience that would involve the customers in the lobster catch and turn them into partners by developing a relationship with their lobsterman.
The brothers had a goal to make over $1,000,000 in their first year by selling 400 memberships at $3,000. They ended up selling 200 memberships in their first three months and more than 400 in their first year. In addition, they have enthusiastic customers who are compelled to share their adventure with their friends. If a client has a party where the lobsters are served, they can show the DVD and brag about “their” lobsterman in Maine, who caught the meal for them this morning! You can catch their business at www.CatchAPieceOfMaine.com.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Feeding An Anorexic Business
When Janel and I went to a restaurant where we regularly eat, we were informed that the buffet salad bar was no longer available, yet the prices were still the same. What was once a busy place located in a tourist district, now has only one worker in the front and very few customers when we’ve visited. It is just another example of how many businesses are dealing with shrinking sales by slashing their costs and at the same time reducing the value their customers receive.
It’s amazing how many organizations practice “business anorexia” as their primary strategy to deal with the downturn in the economy. This describes the extreme financial “starvation” that organizations put themselves through, and that weakens their ability to compete. If continued, it creates a downward spiral that causes a business to go through these steps: 1) Rising prices and a weakened economy prompts cost-cutting measures because it provides immediate relief on the bottom line; 2) lowering costs means stretching out the resources and cutting investment for long-term growth, and possibly laying off employees; 3) this leads to a demoralized workforce that spends more time worrying about their jobs rather than focusing on the customers; 4) the organization develops an internal focus and disconnection with the customer; 5) which impacts the customer’s experience negatively and causes them to shop around for other options; 6) which reduces sales, and 7) and causes the organization to operate on paper-thin margins or at a loss; 8) which leads to further cost cutting… and so the cycle continues until the business eventually collapses.
To avoid this sickly cycle, it’s best to interrupt the pattern by starting at the earliest point in the process, which is using knee-jerk, tactical cost-cutting measures. All costs can be divided into two major categories: tactical and strategic. Tactical costs are useful to operate a business, but they don’t clearly bring in more revenue. This would include all assets and activities that maintain the status quo, such as administrative costs of all types, and some costs associated with manufacturing or service operations. It also includes discretionary costs, which cannot be traced to a specific increase in profitability on the bottom line.
Strategic costs, on the other hand, are those assets and activities that grow the business and directly create greater value for the customer and business. Focusing on those costs will yield a greater return on costs over time with an ultimate outcome of profit improvement versus just cost cutting. The businesses that survive and prosper during tough economic times are those that actually outspend their competition on strategic costs, as a percentage of revenue; while reducing their tactical costs as much as possible.
For example, if you have a lead generation program that has proven to bring in $1,000 of profit for every $500 you spend; it would be ludicrous to cut your costs for this program because you’ll realize an equivalent reduction in profits. Instead, you should increase your spending for this cost if you continue to see the same percentage improvement in profits, even if it means you have to borrow the money.
Before cutting a single penny, your business should be able to answer these questions: What business are you in? What are your prioritized and agreed upon goals and objectives to maximize your purpose? What are the criteria that will be used to measure each asset and activity and guide you in your decisions to improve your profit?
Your company must analyze and justify all of your costs and develop an overall strategy that outlines your profit improvement philosophy and practices. You should understand these three best practices in order to reverse the downward spiral: First, you must know what you do best or better than any other business; second, your business must hire the best people who love doing what they do best; and third, you must thoroughly understand and deliver what your best customers value. The intersection of these three areas will create a significant differentiating factor for your business and cause it to become the obvious choice. Let’s look at these three dynamic aspects in more detail.
First, know what you do best – and become even better at doing it. Be creative and innovative so that you can continue to improve. Monitor your competition to know what they offer to their customers. Do some research or visit businesses similar to yours when you travel, and take notes from your visits. Sam Walton of Wal-Mart was constantly looking for better ways to do what Wal-Mart did best. He would visit his numerous stores and take notes; visit the competition and take notes, then implement the best ideas throughout the stores. It can sometimes be a mistake to expand your product or service offering too far, and thus dilute your core competencies.
When you fully understand what you do best, it’s important to find and hire people who love doing what you do best. The Container Store has been ranked the number one business to work for, and their philosophy is that one great employee is worth three good employees, three good employees are worth three average employees, and one average employee is worth three lousy employees. Therefore one great employee is worth 27 lousy employees – and they’ll be a profit center for your business.
Nordstrom’s number one customer service strategy was to be meticulous about hiring the right people and then training them to sell – not hiring good salespeople and training them to be nice. You need to find people who genuinely like working and serving your customers, and who make customers feel important and valued. Nordstrom’s philosophy is to “hire the smile, train the skill.”
I’ve worked with several organizations that are very careful about who they hire. Whenever they meet someone working at another business who has great customer service skills, they will make a note about that person and if a position opens up, they will invite him or her to apply. What do you do if you have people who don’t appear to love doing what you do best and are not good working with your customers? If you’ve tried to coach and train them to become better customer service reps, then you might need to find other work for them, possibly in a support role.
The third factor is to perhaps the most important. You have to identify your best customers and deliver what they truly value. This process requires a mental shift from being transaction-oriented to becoming more customer outcome focused. Customers don’t just buy goods and services; they buy what those products do for them, or the outcome they expect. If you can understand that outcome and exceed their expectations, then you will be able to deliver greater value to them, which will develop greater customer loyalty.
Once these three factors are operating within your business, you will be able to reverse the downward spiral and instead of cutting costs, you’ll have the additional revenue to train your staff, create greater job security and allow them to focus on your customers by providing the resources they need to fully serve them. When your customers feel like they are getting greater value from your business, it will differentiate your business from the numerous competitors who sell similar goods or services, and it will cure business anorexia by allowing you to have an organization that is well-fed from the growing sales of customers.
It’s amazing how many organizations practice “business anorexia” as their primary strategy to deal with the downturn in the economy. This describes the extreme financial “starvation” that organizations put themselves through, and that weakens their ability to compete. If continued, it creates a downward spiral that causes a business to go through these steps: 1) Rising prices and a weakened economy prompts cost-cutting measures because it provides immediate relief on the bottom line; 2) lowering costs means stretching out the resources and cutting investment for long-term growth, and possibly laying off employees; 3) this leads to a demoralized workforce that spends more time worrying about their jobs rather than focusing on the customers; 4) the organization develops an internal focus and disconnection with the customer; 5) which impacts the customer’s experience negatively and causes them to shop around for other options; 6) which reduces sales, and 7) and causes the organization to operate on paper-thin margins or at a loss; 8) which leads to further cost cutting… and so the cycle continues until the business eventually collapses.
To avoid this sickly cycle, it’s best to interrupt the pattern by starting at the earliest point in the process, which is using knee-jerk, tactical cost-cutting measures. All costs can be divided into two major categories: tactical and strategic. Tactical costs are useful to operate a business, but they don’t clearly bring in more revenue. This would include all assets and activities that maintain the status quo, such as administrative costs of all types, and some costs associated with manufacturing or service operations. It also includes discretionary costs, which cannot be traced to a specific increase in profitability on the bottom line.
Strategic costs, on the other hand, are those assets and activities that grow the business and directly create greater value for the customer and business. Focusing on those costs will yield a greater return on costs over time with an ultimate outcome of profit improvement versus just cost cutting. The businesses that survive and prosper during tough economic times are those that actually outspend their competition on strategic costs, as a percentage of revenue; while reducing their tactical costs as much as possible.
For example, if you have a lead generation program that has proven to bring in $1,000 of profit for every $500 you spend; it would be ludicrous to cut your costs for this program because you’ll realize an equivalent reduction in profits. Instead, you should increase your spending for this cost if you continue to see the same percentage improvement in profits, even if it means you have to borrow the money.
Before cutting a single penny, your business should be able to answer these questions: What business are you in? What are your prioritized and agreed upon goals and objectives to maximize your purpose? What are the criteria that will be used to measure each asset and activity and guide you in your decisions to improve your profit?
Your company must analyze and justify all of your costs and develop an overall strategy that outlines your profit improvement philosophy and practices. You should understand these three best practices in order to reverse the downward spiral: First, you must know what you do best or better than any other business; second, your business must hire the best people who love doing what they do best; and third, you must thoroughly understand and deliver what your best customers value. The intersection of these three areas will create a significant differentiating factor for your business and cause it to become the obvious choice. Let’s look at these three dynamic aspects in more detail.
First, know what you do best – and become even better at doing it. Be creative and innovative so that you can continue to improve. Monitor your competition to know what they offer to their customers. Do some research or visit businesses similar to yours when you travel, and take notes from your visits. Sam Walton of Wal-Mart was constantly looking for better ways to do what Wal-Mart did best. He would visit his numerous stores and take notes; visit the competition and take notes, then implement the best ideas throughout the stores. It can sometimes be a mistake to expand your product or service offering too far, and thus dilute your core competencies.
When you fully understand what you do best, it’s important to find and hire people who love doing what you do best. The Container Store has been ranked the number one business to work for, and their philosophy is that one great employee is worth three good employees, three good employees are worth three average employees, and one average employee is worth three lousy employees. Therefore one great employee is worth 27 lousy employees – and they’ll be a profit center for your business.
Nordstrom’s number one customer service strategy was to be meticulous about hiring the right people and then training them to sell – not hiring good salespeople and training them to be nice. You need to find people who genuinely like working and serving your customers, and who make customers feel important and valued. Nordstrom’s philosophy is to “hire the smile, train the skill.”
I’ve worked with several organizations that are very careful about who they hire. Whenever they meet someone working at another business who has great customer service skills, they will make a note about that person and if a position opens up, they will invite him or her to apply. What do you do if you have people who don’t appear to love doing what you do best and are not good working with your customers? If you’ve tried to coach and train them to become better customer service reps, then you might need to find other work for them, possibly in a support role.
The third factor is to perhaps the most important. You have to identify your best customers and deliver what they truly value. This process requires a mental shift from being transaction-oriented to becoming more customer outcome focused. Customers don’t just buy goods and services; they buy what those products do for them, or the outcome they expect. If you can understand that outcome and exceed their expectations, then you will be able to deliver greater value to them, which will develop greater customer loyalty.
Once these three factors are operating within your business, you will be able to reverse the downward spiral and instead of cutting costs, you’ll have the additional revenue to train your staff, create greater job security and allow them to focus on your customers by providing the resources they need to fully serve them. When your customers feel like they are getting greater value from your business, it will differentiate your business from the numerous competitors who sell similar goods or services, and it will cure business anorexia by allowing you to have an organization that is well-fed from the growing sales of customers.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Your Crystal Ball
You’ve probably seen a movie where someone visits a Gypsy woman to have their future foretold. She gazes intently into a large crystal ball and then begins to predict impending doom or untold riches with the words, “I see your future, and…”
What can you do if you want to know your future, and particularly the future of your company? Well, you could start searching on eBay for a used crystal ball, or you can foretell your own future by developing a vision statement that puts you in control of your destiny – instead of relying on the stars, Karma, or luck.
I’m not taking about a vision statement that is typically short and nondescript, and would make a better slogan than a detailed picture of your future. I’m talking about a detailed word picture that Cameron Herold, in his book, “Double Double: How to Double Your Revenue and Profits in 3 Years or Less,” calls a “painted picture.” This type of vision specifically describes what your business and life will look and be like in the next three years. He uses this timeline because it is short enough to create a strategic plan that is realistic and achievable, but long enough to implement innovative solutions and see their results within the three years.
The vision you create should be compelling and visual so it creates “buy-in” for your entire staff, and allows them to see the same vision that is in your mind. Many vision statements are too simple and vague, and therefore fall short of their mark to create a compelling word picture.
When it’s complete, you will have a detailed document that is between three to four pages. The contents of your painted picture should be a multi-sensory description of what you would see, hear, and feel as you walked around your workplace in the future. It should say what the media, community, and your customers will say about you. You’ll want to state how much your company earns in sales and profits, and you could include the type of employees who work for you and the core values you’ve instilled, that allow them to make good decisions.
You can include as many more categories as you need or want. Some categories could include customer service, marketing, technology, and your ideal work-life balance. Ultimately, your future business should provide you the resources and time to create your ideal lifestyle.
An important distinction is to focus on what you want and where you’re going, rather than how you plan to get there. That will happen when you dig into the details to create a strategic plan. Your painted picture should be a big picture look at your business from 30,000-foot, and the end results you’ll realize toward the end of your journey.
Herold’s own painted picture includes a short, but descriptive paragraph written in 16 different categories of his business and personal life. You can read a copy of it on his website at www.backpocketcoo.com. He encourages people to share their vision with employees, suppliers, bankers, and even customers. The reason for this is it gets your stakeholders to align with your vision and goals so that they understand their role in the grand scheme of things and how they will benefit. Some of them may even play a critical role in its realization.
You could even take it to another level by having an artist or graphic designer make it more engaging with visual imagery. Or, you could create a PowerPoint slideshow with photos and graphics to illustrate your word picture with real pictures.
Review it periodically, both individually and with your employees. Herold suggests reviewing the vision at a quarterly retreat where each person circles the words that mean the most to them before brainstorming ways to make it happen. One executive reads a section of the painted picture at the start of every meeting where more than two people are in attendance. Six months before the three year period ends, you should start crafting your next painted picture.
If you don’t have a vision statement, or one of those vague one-to-three sentence statements that doesn’t inspire anyone, you may want to consider putting together your own painted picture. When it’s complete, you could hold a company event, and if you have a dramatic flair, you could have someone, dressed as a Gypsy, gaze intently into a large crystal ball as she begins reciting your vision with the worlds, “I see your future, and…”
What can you do if you want to know your future, and particularly the future of your company? Well, you could start searching on eBay for a used crystal ball, or you can foretell your own future by developing a vision statement that puts you in control of your destiny – instead of relying on the stars, Karma, or luck.
I’m not taking about a vision statement that is typically short and nondescript, and would make a better slogan than a detailed picture of your future. I’m talking about a detailed word picture that Cameron Herold, in his book, “Double Double: How to Double Your Revenue and Profits in 3 Years or Less,” calls a “painted picture.” This type of vision specifically describes what your business and life will look and be like in the next three years. He uses this timeline because it is short enough to create a strategic plan that is realistic and achievable, but long enough to implement innovative solutions and see their results within the three years.
The vision you create should be compelling and visual so it creates “buy-in” for your entire staff, and allows them to see the same vision that is in your mind. Many vision statements are too simple and vague, and therefore fall short of their mark to create a compelling word picture.
When it’s complete, you will have a detailed document that is between three to four pages. The contents of your painted picture should be a multi-sensory description of what you would see, hear, and feel as you walked around your workplace in the future. It should say what the media, community, and your customers will say about you. You’ll want to state how much your company earns in sales and profits, and you could include the type of employees who work for you and the core values you’ve instilled, that allow them to make good decisions.
You can include as many more categories as you need or want. Some categories could include customer service, marketing, technology, and your ideal work-life balance. Ultimately, your future business should provide you the resources and time to create your ideal lifestyle.
An important distinction is to focus on what you want and where you’re going, rather than how you plan to get there. That will happen when you dig into the details to create a strategic plan. Your painted picture should be a big picture look at your business from 30,000-foot, and the end results you’ll realize toward the end of your journey.
Herold’s own painted picture includes a short, but descriptive paragraph written in 16 different categories of his business and personal life. You can read a copy of it on his website at www.backpocketcoo.com. He encourages people to share their vision with employees, suppliers, bankers, and even customers. The reason for this is it gets your stakeholders to align with your vision and goals so that they understand their role in the grand scheme of things and how they will benefit. Some of them may even play a critical role in its realization.
You could even take it to another level by having an artist or graphic designer make it more engaging with visual imagery. Or, you could create a PowerPoint slideshow with photos and graphics to illustrate your word picture with real pictures.
Review it periodically, both individually and with your employees. Herold suggests reviewing the vision at a quarterly retreat where each person circles the words that mean the most to them before brainstorming ways to make it happen. One executive reads a section of the painted picture at the start of every meeting where more than two people are in attendance. Six months before the three year period ends, you should start crafting your next painted picture.
If you don’t have a vision statement, or one of those vague one-to-three sentence statements that doesn’t inspire anyone, you may want to consider putting together your own painted picture. When it’s complete, you could hold a company event, and if you have a dramatic flair, you could have someone, dressed as a Gypsy, gaze intently into a large crystal ball as she begins reciting your vision with the worlds, “I see your future, and…”
Pessemistic Optimism
“Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.” – Saint Augustine
Students in my business class prepare the entire semester for a major presentation that they make to “investors” who evaluate each presentation using specific criteria. It goes pretty fast with only 12 minutes given for each group to cover all the details, so I encourage them to have some printed material, diagrams, and product examples for the investors to view.
This semester, there was a glitch with a couple of the student’s presentations because about halfway through, their computer failed to display their PowerPoint presentation on the large screen. Without any printed materials, they were left to just talk about their business concept with no visual backup.
Murphy’s Law states that if anything can go wrong, it will. A corollary to this law is that it will happen at the worst possible time. I had my own chance to see Murphy’s Law in action during finals week when I came into the office on Monday morning and turned my computer on and learned that it had crashed. With all my grades, tests and projects on the computer, I was devastated for a moment. Then I remembered I had backed up the data on my computer, but it was a couple of months ago. Thanks to Jovian in the IT department at the college, he was able to recover most of the files by the next day.
These various incidents in the last few days made me think about some sharp entrepreneur’s I’ve worked with who exhibited the quality of pessimistic optimism. They were highly optimistic, had a big vision, and were confident that they would achieve their objectives; however, they also had a thin slice of pessimism that caused them to over prepare by examining any worst case scenarios and being ready to deal with them. In other words, they had backups and contingency plans in place, and they were ready to implement them, if needed, so they could quickly switch gears and get back on track.
Jeffrey Bussgang tells the story in his book, Mastering the VC Game, of how Christoph Westphal left a venture capital firm to become a founding CEO of a company developing a drug that would allow people to live substantially longer. Christoph had an extraordinary vision and went on the road to present his plan with boundless optimism to several venture capital firms. However, he tempered his optimism with a dash of paranoia, and explained: “I assume that everything is going to go wrong. Paranoia is part of what drives a lot of entrepreneurs in a positive direction, just worrying that everything is going to go wrong and trying to mitigate every possible risk. As Intel’s Andrew Grove said, ‘only the paranoid survive.’”
Many individuals seem to operate under the belief of optimistic pessimism. They know that things are bad and getting worse, but they take little action and instead hope that someone will have mercy or something will change at the last minute to make everything better. They take one half of Saint Augustine’s quote and pray that everything will turn out for their good – and sometimes it does. However, they seem to ignore the other half of the quote that requires them to work as if everything depended on them.
We are living in tough times that have many people stressed out. There is plenty of room for pessimism and evidence that things will go from bad to worst. In this dismal situation, some still hope that something good will happen, and relying on someone else to make it happen.
By contrast, I was talking to a prominent entrepreneur last week who spoke as if we were going through good times. He talked about his business ventures and real estate holdings with a 95 percent occupancy rate. His optimism was contagious, and one would think that he was just blessed by providence or good luck. In reality, he had carefully planned for any contingencies and created an environment that attracted customers and tenants because of the careful attention to detail he places in all his work.
Optimists see the good there is in the world, and take action as if everything depended on them, and the smart ones also pray as if everything depended on God. Thanksgiving is a time to consider all those things we are grateful for in our lives. We have been blessed by God with life and the energy to pursue the abundant opportunities that surround us – even during tough economic times. It is up to us to become a pessimistic optimist and make things happen.
Students in my business class prepare the entire semester for a major presentation that they make to “investors” who evaluate each presentation using specific criteria. It goes pretty fast with only 12 minutes given for each group to cover all the details, so I encourage them to have some printed material, diagrams, and product examples for the investors to view.
This semester, there was a glitch with a couple of the student’s presentations because about halfway through, their computer failed to display their PowerPoint presentation on the large screen. Without any printed materials, they were left to just talk about their business concept with no visual backup.
Murphy’s Law states that if anything can go wrong, it will. A corollary to this law is that it will happen at the worst possible time. I had my own chance to see Murphy’s Law in action during finals week when I came into the office on Monday morning and turned my computer on and learned that it had crashed. With all my grades, tests and projects on the computer, I was devastated for a moment. Then I remembered I had backed up the data on my computer, but it was a couple of months ago. Thanks to Jovian in the IT department at the college, he was able to recover most of the files by the next day.
These various incidents in the last few days made me think about some sharp entrepreneur’s I’ve worked with who exhibited the quality of pessimistic optimism. They were highly optimistic, had a big vision, and were confident that they would achieve their objectives; however, they also had a thin slice of pessimism that caused them to over prepare by examining any worst case scenarios and being ready to deal with them. In other words, they had backups and contingency plans in place, and they were ready to implement them, if needed, so they could quickly switch gears and get back on track.
Jeffrey Bussgang tells the story in his book, Mastering the VC Game, of how Christoph Westphal left a venture capital firm to become a founding CEO of a company developing a drug that would allow people to live substantially longer. Christoph had an extraordinary vision and went on the road to present his plan with boundless optimism to several venture capital firms. However, he tempered his optimism with a dash of paranoia, and explained: “I assume that everything is going to go wrong. Paranoia is part of what drives a lot of entrepreneurs in a positive direction, just worrying that everything is going to go wrong and trying to mitigate every possible risk. As Intel’s Andrew Grove said, ‘only the paranoid survive.’”
Many individuals seem to operate under the belief of optimistic pessimism. They know that things are bad and getting worse, but they take little action and instead hope that someone will have mercy or something will change at the last minute to make everything better. They take one half of Saint Augustine’s quote and pray that everything will turn out for their good – and sometimes it does. However, they seem to ignore the other half of the quote that requires them to work as if everything depended on them.
We are living in tough times that have many people stressed out. There is plenty of room for pessimism and evidence that things will go from bad to worst. In this dismal situation, some still hope that something good will happen, and relying on someone else to make it happen.
By contrast, I was talking to a prominent entrepreneur last week who spoke as if we were going through good times. He talked about his business ventures and real estate holdings with a 95 percent occupancy rate. His optimism was contagious, and one would think that he was just blessed by providence or good luck. In reality, he had carefully planned for any contingencies and created an environment that attracted customers and tenants because of the careful attention to detail he places in all his work.
Optimists see the good there is in the world, and take action as if everything depended on them, and the smart ones also pray as if everything depended on God. Thanksgiving is a time to consider all those things we are grateful for in our lives. We have been blessed by God with life and the energy to pursue the abundant opportunities that surround us – even during tough economic times. It is up to us to become a pessimistic optimist and make things happen.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Tools
My wife, Janel, decided that “we” were going to carve a pumpkin this year for Halloween. I knew that “we” meant that I was going to have a major role in the activity. She bought a large pumpkin, researched designs on the Internet and showed me some YouTube videos to help me get started.
One of the experts showed how to tape the design to the pumpkin, and then he spent two hours pushing a pin carefully through the lines of the pattern so that when the paper was pulled away, the small holes could be faintly seen. The next seven hours were spent cutting and scooping pieces of the pumpkin with an x-acto knife to reveal an intricate design.
The pumpkin sat for several days because I knew I didn’t have nine spare hours to spend carving a pumpkin. Finally the Friday night before Halloween, I decided to work smart by employing tools that we had in the house. Rather than spend two hours pushing a pin through a paper, I used an old pounce wheel I had purchased when I was in high school. It has a handle with a small wheel at the end that looks like a cowboy’s spur. It’s used by sign painters to make a series of small holes in a paper pattern so that a bag of charcoal could be pounced on the holes to leave a faint pattern when the paper is removed. That took about 20 minutes to complete instead of two hours.
I used some wood carving tools, instead of an x-acto knife to quickly scoop large pieces of the pumpkin to reveal a tiger’s head. That took only about an hour to complete. Another 20 minutes was spent cutting out the top and cleaning the inside. I was more excited that I shaved seven hours off the time, than what the final product revealed.
With the right tools, you can accomplish something in much less time, or with greater ease and higher quality. I’m very frugal, but when it comes to purchasing tools for my profession, I am willing to pay for the best because I know that it will pay for itself over and over again. When I was studying art, I learned that the cheap brushes cost less initially, but they quickly wore out or did not produce the desired result. A brush that cost twice as much would often last four times as long and create an effect that was not possible with the cheaper brushes.
Having the right tools in business is essential if you are serious about your work. This can be the specific equipment you need for your particular profession, the right phone system to take messages and provide quality reception, or the proper vehicles that can improve your productivity.
Technology is constantly evolving to improve the productivity and performance of entrepreneurs. The Internet and social media sites have allowed a business to expand its influence beyond what was possible on a limited budget only a decade ago. In fact, a small company in Winnemucca, Nevada can now be a global business competing with larger corporations, if it has the right tools.
I recently made an inventory of some inexpensive tools available on the Internet that can save a businessperson many hours. They won’t carve a pumpkin, but they can sure make you more productive. Here they are:
Enounce.com has a tool that can speed videos and audio recordings up to three times as fast, without it sounding like Alvin and the Chipmunks. I use it all the time to listen to material at 1.5 times faster than normal, and if I pay careful attention, I’ll kick it up to twice the speed without sacrificing clarity.
BaseCampHQ.com allows a business to easily keep track of all projects within a company, or assignments given to clients. I’ve used project management software, but it can sometimes be complicated. This site has simplified the process so it can be used with 95 percent of the projects a company tackles. Another tool at Teamly.com allows you to list the top five things to accomplish each day, week, and month.
One of my favorite tools is Snagit, which can be found at Techsmith.com. This allows me to not only do screen captures of an entire website, or just a small portion, but to also edit them and easily export them to Word or PowerPoint.
I’m sure you have your own “bag” of tools that allows you to save time and produce better results. Owning the right tool is an investment and not an expense over time. It separates the professionals from the hobbyists, and the right tools can make you look good in record time. Next Halloween I’ll be ready for whatever Janel decides “we” are going to carve.
Friday, November 11, 2011
The Walking Dead
Point One: As reported in last Saturday’s issue of the Saipan Tribune, only 7 percent of voters turned out for the survey on casino gambling on Saipan. Current issues instructor, Sam McPhetres, said it's “frustrating” that “a lot of people are not paying attention. They are the ones who need to decide the pros and cons on this issue. They have been spoon-fed for so long.”
Point Two: The job fair drew a good number of individuals to meet with prospective employers. One of the businesses talked to over 300 people and gave applications, but said that most don’t seem motivated about getting a job.
Point Three: I offered to do a training session for businesses on how to create a strategic plan that could help a company get focused and see better results in the coming year. I requested people to email me to determine their interest. There was no response.
Point Four: I was talking to an associate who attended a meeting about the retirement program’s performance. He stated that with all the issues surrounding the eventual demise of the program, there should have been a large group of interested people, but instead only a handful of people attended.
These are just a few points from many others I’ve observed over the past few years that indicate the general public has basically “thrown in the towel.” There appears to be a stupor that keeps people from caring about the many issues we’re facing. I’m sure there’s some psychiatric term that can describe this situation, but my unscientific explanation is that we are “zombified” by the malaise that permeates this small community. Rather than deal with the issues and take advantage of the numerous job opportunities that are available, take a stand against the bullying of some politicians to push casinos, or take action to create a plan, many have become part of the walking dead who accept the status quo and continue to embrace an entitlement mentality.
They haven’t lost all hope, because they still believe that the federal or local government will come to the rescue at the last moment and take care of them. This is based mostly on past experience. Even when it’s apparent that things are going down the drain fast, they still believe something or someone will provide a solution, instead of accepting full responsibility and taking action.
What’s the remedy for this apathetic state? One solution is to believe that you as an individual can make a difference. The old saying “if it is to be, it is up to me” applies here. When combined with the thoughts and will of enough people who are willing to step up to the plate, it can become a force for action to take back their lives and be in charge of their future.
It requires enough people who are fed up with their current situation, and who are willing to take full responsibility to make things better. These are individuals who wake up from a deep sleep and choose to join with the living. They are motivated, study the issues to become informed, make plans, and then take focused action to make it happen.
To get this movement going, however, requires a vision that is so compelling that it awakens the zombified populace from their deep trance, and enlists them in a cause for the greater good. In other words, it requires a type of leadership that does not currently exist. It can start with only one person with one great idea to bring people together as one.
These leaders will have to overcome the current way of doing things, the stalled mindset that has kept things as they are, and the general apathy that causes people to lose hope on themselves and the community. We have had some in the past who were willing to go against cultural norms and speak up for the right thing to do, but the incessant browbeating from the prevailing powers that be achieved their goal to squelch any opposition.
There are numerous examples of companies and countries that have, like the phoenix, restored themselves from the ashes of despair, to revive and transform themselves. Will the story of the CNMI include such a transformation? Are there enough people who care deeply enough and are motivated enough to make a difference? Or will it continue on its downward spiral into insolvency and dependency on others? Time will tell.
Point Two: The job fair drew a good number of individuals to meet with prospective employers. One of the businesses talked to over 300 people and gave applications, but said that most don’t seem motivated about getting a job.
Point Three: I offered to do a training session for businesses on how to create a strategic plan that could help a company get focused and see better results in the coming year. I requested people to email me to determine their interest. There was no response.
Point Four: I was talking to an associate who attended a meeting about the retirement program’s performance. He stated that with all the issues surrounding the eventual demise of the program, there should have been a large group of interested people, but instead only a handful of people attended.
These are just a few points from many others I’ve observed over the past few years that indicate the general public has basically “thrown in the towel.” There appears to be a stupor that keeps people from caring about the many issues we’re facing. I’m sure there’s some psychiatric term that can describe this situation, but my unscientific explanation is that we are “zombified” by the malaise that permeates this small community. Rather than deal with the issues and take advantage of the numerous job opportunities that are available, take a stand against the bullying of some politicians to push casinos, or take action to create a plan, many have become part of the walking dead who accept the status quo and continue to embrace an entitlement mentality.
They haven’t lost all hope, because they still believe that the federal or local government will come to the rescue at the last moment and take care of them. This is based mostly on past experience. Even when it’s apparent that things are going down the drain fast, they still believe something or someone will provide a solution, instead of accepting full responsibility and taking action.
What’s the remedy for this apathetic state? One solution is to believe that you as an individual can make a difference. The old saying “if it is to be, it is up to me” applies here. When combined with the thoughts and will of enough people who are willing to step up to the plate, it can become a force for action to take back their lives and be in charge of their future.
It requires enough people who are fed up with their current situation, and who are willing to take full responsibility to make things better. These are individuals who wake up from a deep sleep and choose to join with the living. They are motivated, study the issues to become informed, make plans, and then take focused action to make it happen.
To get this movement going, however, requires a vision that is so compelling that it awakens the zombified populace from their deep trance, and enlists them in a cause for the greater good. In other words, it requires a type of leadership that does not currently exist. It can start with only one person with one great idea to bring people together as one.
These leaders will have to overcome the current way of doing things, the stalled mindset that has kept things as they are, and the general apathy that causes people to lose hope on themselves and the community. We have had some in the past who were willing to go against cultural norms and speak up for the right thing to do, but the incessant browbeating from the prevailing powers that be achieved their goal to squelch any opposition.
There are numerous examples of companies and countries that have, like the phoenix, restored themselves from the ashes of despair, to revive and transform themselves. Will the story of the CNMI include such a transformation? Are there enough people who care deeply enough and are motivated enough to make a difference? Or will it continue on its downward spiral into insolvency and dependency on others? Time will tell.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Can You Afford Another Year Like This Year?
We’re already into the last two months of the year, and individuals will soon be evaluating what they have and have not accomplished, and what they hope to accomplish next year? There’s still time to get everything done that you promised yourself at the start of the year. Ninety percent of things tend to be accomplished in the last 10 percent of the time remaining.
The big problem why most people don’t get much done is because they don’t have definite goals or a specific plan to achieve those goals. By not having a definite aim in life, a person or business ends up becoming part of the goals and plans of others. If those plans and aspirations are good, then that person becomes the beneficiaries of that goodness; however, if the plan is self-serving and aimed to benefit a small, inner circle of people, then an individual becomes collateral damage or a victim of those plans.
We’re seeing a lot of the collateral damage from the poor planning and follow-through with the retirement program. Government employees are the victims of basing their hopes on the goals and plans of other people they trusted to take care of them, rather than taking charge and working on a plan that they have more control over.
As a business owner, there is no reason why you shouldn’t have a specific plan to take charge of your situation to create a better year next year than what you experienced this year. Yet, few businesses actually plan. In a survey I conducted in June 2009, I asked 21 business owners to list their three greatest internal business frustrations or obstacles that if they were able to resolve, would allow them to grow and prosper. Many frustrations were listed, but only one responded with “lack of a plan to follow.”
I then asked all of the respondents: “Do you have a written plan or strategy that you and your staff are successfully following to resolve any or all of the frustrations you mentioned, within the next 6 to 12 months?”
Only two said “yes” and 19 responded that they did not have a written plan. In other words, nine out of ten businesses did not have a plan to help them overcome their biggest frustrations or obstacles. Most of them have probably thought about how to improve their situation, but without writing it down and consistently communicating it to staff, there is a slim chance that it will be accomplished. The typical demands on time and the turbulence occurring in the external environment are causing many to be at the mercy of the economic winds of change.
Your plan does not have to be complex, and in fact, it should follow the KISS formula to Keep It Short & Simple so that it is easily understood by everyone and readily implemented. One of the problems with planning is that it is too complex or elaborate to easily follow. Most large companies have a planning process, but one estimate is that only about 10 percent of them are followed through to completion. In academics, the estimate is higher at about 30 percent. That means a vast majority of plans lay lifeless on someone’s shelf.
A plan allows you to look forward while others tend to focus backward. When your business has a plan, you are better able to deal with disruptive situations and can focus the energies of your people in a more productive manner. If things don’t go as planned (which is often the case) you will have a basis to evaluate why there was a deviation, and then regroup to get quickly back on course. This is because you know your final destination, and can then take the necessary actions to get your business back on track. Without a plan, there is nothing to use as a basis for evaluation, and therefore less of a chance that you will recover from a setback.
If you would like to learn a simple method to create a strategic plan for your organization, I am thinking about offering a short training session, but it will be based on if enough people plan to attend. If you would like to join the ranks of those individuals who are in control of their business, regardless of what is happening with the economy or the dubious plans of others, then email me.
The question that is the title of this article is a good one to end with. Can you afford another year like this year? If the answer is no, then you definitely need to create a plan that will propel you toward your goals and the vision you have for your organization. Even if you are an employee, this question is a good one to ask yourself. If life isn’t turning out like you hoped it would, then it’s time you made a plan to get better results in your various dimensions, such your physical, emotional, intellectual, financial, or spiritual self.
Make next year your best year, and start early by making a plan that will take you there. Remember to email me at RikVillegas@gmail.com if you’re interested in attending a planning session to help you get focused.
The big problem why most people don’t get much done is because they don’t have definite goals or a specific plan to achieve those goals. By not having a definite aim in life, a person or business ends up becoming part of the goals and plans of others. If those plans and aspirations are good, then that person becomes the beneficiaries of that goodness; however, if the plan is self-serving and aimed to benefit a small, inner circle of people, then an individual becomes collateral damage or a victim of those plans.
We’re seeing a lot of the collateral damage from the poor planning and follow-through with the retirement program. Government employees are the victims of basing their hopes on the goals and plans of other people they trusted to take care of them, rather than taking charge and working on a plan that they have more control over.
As a business owner, there is no reason why you shouldn’t have a specific plan to take charge of your situation to create a better year next year than what you experienced this year. Yet, few businesses actually plan. In a survey I conducted in June 2009, I asked 21 business owners to list their three greatest internal business frustrations or obstacles that if they were able to resolve, would allow them to grow and prosper. Many frustrations were listed, but only one responded with “lack of a plan to follow.”
I then asked all of the respondents: “Do you have a written plan or strategy that you and your staff are successfully following to resolve any or all of the frustrations you mentioned, within the next 6 to 12 months?”
Only two said “yes” and 19 responded that they did not have a written plan. In other words, nine out of ten businesses did not have a plan to help them overcome their biggest frustrations or obstacles. Most of them have probably thought about how to improve their situation, but without writing it down and consistently communicating it to staff, there is a slim chance that it will be accomplished. The typical demands on time and the turbulence occurring in the external environment are causing many to be at the mercy of the economic winds of change.
Your plan does not have to be complex, and in fact, it should follow the KISS formula to Keep It Short & Simple so that it is easily understood by everyone and readily implemented. One of the problems with planning is that it is too complex or elaborate to easily follow. Most large companies have a planning process, but one estimate is that only about 10 percent of them are followed through to completion. In academics, the estimate is higher at about 30 percent. That means a vast majority of plans lay lifeless on someone’s shelf.
A plan allows you to look forward while others tend to focus backward. When your business has a plan, you are better able to deal with disruptive situations and can focus the energies of your people in a more productive manner. If things don’t go as planned (which is often the case) you will have a basis to evaluate why there was a deviation, and then regroup to get quickly back on course. This is because you know your final destination, and can then take the necessary actions to get your business back on track. Without a plan, there is nothing to use as a basis for evaluation, and therefore less of a chance that you will recover from a setback.
If you would like to learn a simple method to create a strategic plan for your organization, I am thinking about offering a short training session, but it will be based on if enough people plan to attend. If you would like to join the ranks of those individuals who are in control of their business, regardless of what is happening with the economy or the dubious plans of others, then email me.
The question that is the title of this article is a good one to end with. Can you afford another year like this year? If the answer is no, then you definitely need to create a plan that will propel you toward your goals and the vision you have for your organization. Even if you are an employee, this question is a good one to ask yourself. If life isn’t turning out like you hoped it would, then it’s time you made a plan to get better results in your various dimensions, such your physical, emotional, intellectual, financial, or spiritual self.
Make next year your best year, and start early by making a plan that will take you there. Remember to email me at RikVillegas@gmail.com if you’re interested in attending a planning session to help you get focused.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Rules of Engagement
When I started my first semester of college, I was fortunate to have Calvin as my roommate. He was the valedictorian graduate at his high school and knew not only what it took to get good grades, but how to succeed in other areas of life. After a date, I noticed he would grab a sheet of paper with a list of all the qualities he was looking for in a future wife, and he would rate the girl he just took out. There were about 10 qualities and the last one was “Zing!” This represented the non-quantifiable qualities that caused his heart to race, and made the relationship exciting.
I borrowed from Cal’s list and added a dozen more qualities over time. Whenever I considered getting serious with a gal, I would pull out my “rules of engagement” to rate her. Needless to say, it was nearly impossible to find someone that could meet all the qualities on my list – including me – but it didn’t stop me from trying.
I was recently looking at a website of Greg Habstritt, and he had a set of rules he shares with people who want to work with him as a partner or in a joint venture. Looking over the list reminded me of Cal’s list, except this one was for a long-term business relationship. Most people don’t have written criteria to rate someone they want to have an ongoing business relationship with, but almost everyone has some general idea of the type of people they would like to work with or for.
It made perfect sense to me to have a list of rules to determine who to establish a long-term business relationship, and also to have rules to evaluate what projects to work on. The opposite is to just “go with the flow” and possibly get burned, find yourself in a compromising situation, or waste a lot of time doing something with someone you wish you would have never even started.
As a college instructor, I have a semester-long relationship with my students. On the first day of the semester in each of the business classes I teach, I review a list of rules with my students to let them know my expectations up front. They also learn what will happen in case some of the expectations are not met; for instance, if someone cheats on a test. I also go over the schedule, share the student learning outcomes, and the major purpose and outcome they can expect by the end of the semester. This helps set the tone for our semester-long relationship, lets the students know exactly what I expect from them, and how they can get a good grade in my class.
Would it be beneficial to have written rules of engagement that possible joint venture partners could review to determine if they are suitable to work with you and your company? These could be very specific, or they might be some generalized factors that act as guidelines to establish a working relationship. Here are some of what Greg refers to as the factors he uses to determine whether he’ll get involved with a business project with someone: A solid reputation, alignment with his current clients and their needs, economic benefit to everyone involved, and a focus on developing greater lifetime value for all the partners.
He also lists his core values and a set of three rules to help prospective partners determine if they are a good fit with his company. Reviewing the values and rules saves time for both him and anyone who doesn’t measure up to his values and rules.
You could come up with your own list of criteria or rules to determine who you will engage with on a business project. The least it will do is to save you a lot of time by screening the undesirable individuals or projects that you should avoid. Your rules of engagement will allow you to evaluate the “cream of the crop” and make better long-term decisions. They could reduce the stress you might currently face because of poorly chosen relationships or less-than-ethical partners.
Now, fast forward eight years from the time I started using Cal’s list and I’m still having difficulty finding the “perfect” companion. The Air Force sent me to Abilene, Texas and I met a young southern belle who had a lot of Zing! When I pulled my worn list out to rate her, I was disappointed to find that she couldn’t meet all the qualities so I uncharacteristically threw out the list, went with the Zing, and 26 years later I can look back and say it was the best decision I ever made to marry Janel.
So what’s the lesson? It’s important to have a list of criteria and set of rules to follow, but be flexible to go with your gut feeling sometimes when the right opportunity comes along. The critical thing to remember is to always stay aligned with your core values and work with people who have similar values.
I borrowed from Cal’s list and added a dozen more qualities over time. Whenever I considered getting serious with a gal, I would pull out my “rules of engagement” to rate her. Needless to say, it was nearly impossible to find someone that could meet all the qualities on my list – including me – but it didn’t stop me from trying.
I was recently looking at a website of Greg Habstritt, and he had a set of rules he shares with people who want to work with him as a partner or in a joint venture. Looking over the list reminded me of Cal’s list, except this one was for a long-term business relationship. Most people don’t have written criteria to rate someone they want to have an ongoing business relationship with, but almost everyone has some general idea of the type of people they would like to work with or for.
It made perfect sense to me to have a list of rules to determine who to establish a long-term business relationship, and also to have rules to evaluate what projects to work on. The opposite is to just “go with the flow” and possibly get burned, find yourself in a compromising situation, or waste a lot of time doing something with someone you wish you would have never even started.
As a college instructor, I have a semester-long relationship with my students. On the first day of the semester in each of the business classes I teach, I review a list of rules with my students to let them know my expectations up front. They also learn what will happen in case some of the expectations are not met; for instance, if someone cheats on a test. I also go over the schedule, share the student learning outcomes, and the major purpose and outcome they can expect by the end of the semester. This helps set the tone for our semester-long relationship, lets the students know exactly what I expect from them, and how they can get a good grade in my class.
Would it be beneficial to have written rules of engagement that possible joint venture partners could review to determine if they are suitable to work with you and your company? These could be very specific, or they might be some generalized factors that act as guidelines to establish a working relationship. Here are some of what Greg refers to as the factors he uses to determine whether he’ll get involved with a business project with someone: A solid reputation, alignment with his current clients and their needs, economic benefit to everyone involved, and a focus on developing greater lifetime value for all the partners.
He also lists his core values and a set of three rules to help prospective partners determine if they are a good fit with his company. Reviewing the values and rules saves time for both him and anyone who doesn’t measure up to his values and rules.
You could come up with your own list of criteria or rules to determine who you will engage with on a business project. The least it will do is to save you a lot of time by screening the undesirable individuals or projects that you should avoid. Your rules of engagement will allow you to evaluate the “cream of the crop” and make better long-term decisions. They could reduce the stress you might currently face because of poorly chosen relationships or less-than-ethical partners.
Now, fast forward eight years from the time I started using Cal’s list and I’m still having difficulty finding the “perfect” companion. The Air Force sent me to Abilene, Texas and I met a young southern belle who had a lot of Zing! When I pulled my worn list out to rate her, I was disappointed to find that she couldn’t meet all the qualities so I uncharacteristically threw out the list, went with the Zing, and 26 years later I can look back and say it was the best decision I ever made to marry Janel.
So what’s the lesson? It’s important to have a list of criteria and set of rules to follow, but be flexible to go with your gut feeling sometimes when the right opportunity comes along. The critical thing to remember is to always stay aligned with your core values and work with people who have similar values.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Your 3/3/33 Solution
Pythagoras, the Greek mathematician, wrote about the personality of numbers, and claimed to have learned about it from the Egyptians. Mystical qualities have been associated with numbers from ancient times, and the number “3” has a particular fascination. The three primary colors of red, blue, and yellow can be combined to produce all other colors, including white.
The triad or trinity is a symbol of the unity of body, mind and spirit, and it is found throughout the world and history. The triangle is associated with the divine number of three, it is a symbol for power, and it also represents success, prosperity, and safety. The two interlaced triangles known as King Solomon’s seal, or more commonly as the Star of David, is called in India the seal of Vishnu. It signifies the bipolarity in nature of spirit and matter. The upward triangle represents spirit, consciousness, and concealed wisdom, while the mirrored downward pointing triangle represents matter, manifestation, or wisdom revealed.
What would happen if you could harness the number “3” to realize greater success and prosperity in your business? Now imagine your business developing to a point where you eventually had no weaknesses, and your combined strengths in each of the seven dimensions would allow you to minimize any challenges and aggressively take advantage of every opportunity available to your business so you could realize continuous breakthroughs in productivity, performance, and profits?
That’s what your 3/3/33 solution can do for you. You complete this exercise by simply stating your biggest challenge in a sentence that you and others can focus their thoughts on, and then brainstorm all the possible ideas you can think of to meet the challenge. From that list, choose the top 3 solutions, that when accomplished in 3 months would result in at least a 33 percent improvement.
The good news is that it’s not necessary to take massive action each day to achieve massive results – although it may take a lot of effort to get the momentum moving in the beginning. In order to realize the 33 percent improvement in the next 90 days, you only need to improve 0.33 percent each day. Is it possible for you to improve your productivity, performance, or profitability by 1/300th in a 24-hour period?
If you planned your day to accomplish this improvement, you could increase your results much more than 1/3 of 1 percent – probably more like 33 percent in a single day if you really focused your efforts. This would get you off to a great start, but it would be difficult to sustain over a longer period of time; therefore, it’s scaled down to an average daily 1/300th improvement.
By setting an easy-to-reach goal each day, and aiming to be consistent in your results over time, you should reap the 33 percent target within 3 months. By continuing at this pace, the compounding effects will double your results by the end of the third quarter, and it will produce three times more than where you started 12 months earlier!
For example, if you had a starting profit of $100,000 and you increased by 33 percent the first quarter, you would end up with $133,000. As your improvements compounded, the second quarter would yield $176,890 in profits; third quarter $235,264; and by the end of the year your profit would be $312,900. If you could continue that pace you could almost add another zero to your bottom line by the end of the second year, as compared to your starting profits, and after three years, an incredible 3,064 percent or 30 times more!
This may seem unbelievable, and if you continue to operate your business as you’ve always done, it may very well be impossible. However, by thinking outside the box and setting up the proper strategy, systems and support to think and act much bigger, you could realize jumps in profitability, productivity, and performance that were once unimagined. In last weeks article, you learned how it could be possible to achieve a 33 percent profit improvement with as little as a 1 percent improvement in five areas of your business.
Even if you cut the improvement by one-third to a consistent 10 percent per quarter improvement in profits (which is about 3 percent compounded per month), you would more than double your profits within two years and triple it by the end of the third year.
Applying the principle of continuous and never-ending improvement in one dimension of your business will also lead to improvements in your other dimensions. For example, as you constantly aim to improve the service you offer to your customes, it will increase the number of referrals and sales you enjoy. As you consistently get better in some areas, it will lead to growth in other areas also.
Completing the 3/3/33 solution will help you realize the potential your business has to grow beyond what you might have imagined. This is the step that separates the leaders from just the readers. The power of “3” will allow you to gain more control of the future of your business and all that it can do for you, your employees and your customers. So, what are the top 3 things you can do in the next 3 months to produce a 33 percent improvement?
The triad or trinity is a symbol of the unity of body, mind and spirit, and it is found throughout the world and history. The triangle is associated with the divine number of three, it is a symbol for power, and it also represents success, prosperity, and safety. The two interlaced triangles known as King Solomon’s seal, or more commonly as the Star of David, is called in India the seal of Vishnu. It signifies the bipolarity in nature of spirit and matter. The upward triangle represents spirit, consciousness, and concealed wisdom, while the mirrored downward pointing triangle represents matter, manifestation, or wisdom revealed.
What would happen if you could harness the number “3” to realize greater success and prosperity in your business? Now imagine your business developing to a point where you eventually had no weaknesses, and your combined strengths in each of the seven dimensions would allow you to minimize any challenges and aggressively take advantage of every opportunity available to your business so you could realize continuous breakthroughs in productivity, performance, and profits?
That’s what your 3/3/33 solution can do for you. You complete this exercise by simply stating your biggest challenge in a sentence that you and others can focus their thoughts on, and then brainstorm all the possible ideas you can think of to meet the challenge. From that list, choose the top 3 solutions, that when accomplished in 3 months would result in at least a 33 percent improvement.
The good news is that it’s not necessary to take massive action each day to achieve massive results – although it may take a lot of effort to get the momentum moving in the beginning. In order to realize the 33 percent improvement in the next 90 days, you only need to improve 0.33 percent each day. Is it possible for you to improve your productivity, performance, or profitability by 1/300th in a 24-hour period?
If you planned your day to accomplish this improvement, you could increase your results much more than 1/3 of 1 percent – probably more like 33 percent in a single day if you really focused your efforts. This would get you off to a great start, but it would be difficult to sustain over a longer period of time; therefore, it’s scaled down to an average daily 1/300th improvement.
By setting an easy-to-reach goal each day, and aiming to be consistent in your results over time, you should reap the 33 percent target within 3 months. By continuing at this pace, the compounding effects will double your results by the end of the third quarter, and it will produce three times more than where you started 12 months earlier!
For example, if you had a starting profit of $100,000 and you increased by 33 percent the first quarter, you would end up with $133,000. As your improvements compounded, the second quarter would yield $176,890 in profits; third quarter $235,264; and by the end of the year your profit would be $312,900. If you could continue that pace you could almost add another zero to your bottom line by the end of the second year, as compared to your starting profits, and after three years, an incredible 3,064 percent or 30 times more!
This may seem unbelievable, and if you continue to operate your business as you’ve always done, it may very well be impossible. However, by thinking outside the box and setting up the proper strategy, systems and support to think and act much bigger, you could realize jumps in profitability, productivity, and performance that were once unimagined. In last weeks article, you learned how it could be possible to achieve a 33 percent profit improvement with as little as a 1 percent improvement in five areas of your business.
Even if you cut the improvement by one-third to a consistent 10 percent per quarter improvement in profits (which is about 3 percent compounded per month), you would more than double your profits within two years and triple it by the end of the third year.
Applying the principle of continuous and never-ending improvement in one dimension of your business will also lead to improvements in your other dimensions. For example, as you constantly aim to improve the service you offer to your customes, it will increase the number of referrals and sales you enjoy. As you consistently get better in some areas, it will lead to growth in other areas also.
Completing the 3/3/33 solution will help you realize the potential your business has to grow beyond what you might have imagined. This is the step that separates the leaders from just the readers. The power of “3” will allow you to gain more control of the future of your business and all that it can do for you, your employees and your customers. So, what are the top 3 things you can do in the next 3 months to produce a 33 percent improvement?
The 100-Day Challenge: Grow 100% in 100 Days
About three months ago, I started compiling some of my best articles into a book called “Your BizGrowth Challenge: Solutions to Move Your Business to the Next Level of Growth.” It includes numerous stories of how businesses have overcome challenges, and the book uses the 7 Strategic Dimensions of every organization as a framework. Each of the stories and concepts are designed to help you and your staff to discover solutions to specific challenges in each of the dimensions and realize massive breakthroughs, as well as incremental improvements.
The 7 Strategic Dimensions identifies important areas to maintain a balanced business, and they include: 1) How to remain innovative and plan for growth, 2) train employees and offer opportunities for professional development, 3) develop systems for smooth operations, 4) manage stakeholder relationships, 5) identify appealing products and develop effective marketing strategies, 6) choose measurable metrics, and manage costs, and 7) develop a customer-focused culture that creates loyal customers and dedicated employees. In the end; however, the results of all those activities must produce a profit on the bottom line so your business can continue to grow and remain viable.
To prove the viability of the concepts, I am issuing a challenge to invite a few businesses to participate in what I’m calling the 100% BizGrowth Challenge. The goal of this challenge is to grow participating businesses by 100% in sales or profits in 100 days. Many of the principles have been proven in the field with clients I’ve worked with over the last 20 years, but I haven’t combined all of them into a comprehensive program that specifically identifies the greatest opportunities for growth and creates a plan to achieve rapid growth.
This may sound ambitious, especially in this economic climate; however, let me demonstrate how small changes in just a few key areas could dramatically change your bottom line. If a business is operating with a 10% return on sales, you only need to improve 3% in the next 100 days in 5 key areas to double your profits.
Let me go through this step-by-step to demonstrate how this can be accomplished in the five areas. If you have: 1) 2,000 prospects who visit your business in a month (about 70/day), and 2) 50% of them become customers (1,000), 3) who make an average purchase of $100, and 4) return to your business 10 times in a period of time, your sales would be $1,000,000; 5) subtracting variable costs (VC) of 50% and $400,000 in fixed costs (FC) would produce $100,000 (I’ll leave taxes out to simplify the example).
A 3% improvement in just one area, the average purchase amount ($103), will increase your sales by 3% to $1,030,000, without doing anything else in the other areas. When you subtract your variable costs (VC) of 50% of gross sales, and $400,000 in fixed costs (FC), the result is a 15% increase in profit. The percentage will be more or less depending on your profit margin. The main point is that it doesn’t take much to increase your profits with minor improvement in just one of the three areas. How difficult is it for you to increase the average purchase amount by just 3%? You can provide better customer service, offer an extended warranty, up-sell, bundle products together, offer a deluxe alternative, or dozens of other methods.
Let’s look at what happens if you follow a plan, that you’ll follow as part of the 100% BizGrowth Challenge, to improve in all five areas by just 3%. These aren’t huge jumps in the number of new customers, their average purchase amount, or the number of times that they return. Your sales would increase by 15.8%. In addition, if you make a 3% improvement in your variable costs by examining all the waste and inefficiencies within your business, this would produce an additional $113,894 to the bottom line. The combined results in this example would more than double your profits. My goal is to help you realize at least a 3 to 6% improvement in each of the areas in the next 100 days, and much larger jumps in some of the areas by implementing a strategy and following-through on a plan that is tailored to your business.
To break this down to the ridiculous, the plan requires you to just realize a 1 to 2% improvement per month in five key areas, and I’ll show you how it can easily be achieved if you know what to work on. Again, the results you’ll realize will be different because of the differing variable but it illustrates how incremental improvements can compound over time in key areas to produce impressive results.
The 7 Strategic Dimensions identifies important areas to maintain a balanced business, and they include: 1) How to remain innovative and plan for growth, 2) train employees and offer opportunities for professional development, 3) develop systems for smooth operations, 4) manage stakeholder relationships, 5) identify appealing products and develop effective marketing strategies, 6) choose measurable metrics, and manage costs, and 7) develop a customer-focused culture that creates loyal customers and dedicated employees. In the end; however, the results of all those activities must produce a profit on the bottom line so your business can continue to grow and remain viable.
To prove the viability of the concepts, I am issuing a challenge to invite a few businesses to participate in what I’m calling the 100% BizGrowth Challenge. The goal of this challenge is to grow participating businesses by 100% in sales or profits in 100 days. Many of the principles have been proven in the field with clients I’ve worked with over the last 20 years, but I haven’t combined all of them into a comprehensive program that specifically identifies the greatest opportunities for growth and creates a plan to achieve rapid growth.
This may sound ambitious, especially in this economic climate; however, let me demonstrate how small changes in just a few key areas could dramatically change your bottom line. If a business is operating with a 10% return on sales, you only need to improve 3% in the next 100 days in 5 key areas to double your profits.
Let me go through this step-by-step to demonstrate how this can be accomplished in the five areas. If you have: 1) 2,000 prospects who visit your business in a month (about 70/day), and 2) 50% of them become customers (1,000), 3) who make an average purchase of $100, and 4) return to your business 10 times in a period of time, your sales would be $1,000,000; 5) subtracting variable costs (VC) of 50% and $400,000 in fixed costs (FC) would produce $100,000 (I’ll leave taxes out to simplify the example).
A 3% improvement in just one area, the average purchase amount ($103), will increase your sales by 3% to $1,030,000, without doing anything else in the other areas. When you subtract your variable costs (VC) of 50% of gross sales, and $400,000 in fixed costs (FC), the result is a 15% increase in profit. The percentage will be more or less depending on your profit margin. The main point is that it doesn’t take much to increase your profits with minor improvement in just one of the three areas. How difficult is it for you to increase the average purchase amount by just 3%? You can provide better customer service, offer an extended warranty, up-sell, bundle products together, offer a deluxe alternative, or dozens of other methods.
Let’s look at what happens if you follow a plan, that you’ll follow as part of the 100% BizGrowth Challenge, to improve in all five areas by just 3%. These aren’t huge jumps in the number of new customers, their average purchase amount, or the number of times that they return. Your sales would increase by 15.8%. In addition, if you make a 3% improvement in your variable costs by examining all the waste and inefficiencies within your business, this would produce an additional $113,894 to the bottom line. The combined results in this example would more than double your profits. My goal is to help you realize at least a 3 to 6% improvement in each of the areas in the next 100 days, and much larger jumps in some of the areas by implementing a strategy and following-through on a plan that is tailored to your business.
To break this down to the ridiculous, the plan requires you to just realize a 1 to 2% improvement per month in five key areas, and I’ll show you how it can easily be achieved if you know what to work on. Again, the results you’ll realize will be different because of the differing variable but it illustrates how incremental improvements can compound over time in key areas to produce impressive results.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Reconnecting with Key Stakeholders
It’s easy to focus on the immediate stakeholders of your business, such as your customers and employees, and ensure that their needs are being met. However, there are some stakeholders that tend to be neglected because they don’t appear to be as important or don’t bring attention to themselves. This is a common mistake made by many business owners, but it can come around to bite them in the future. If those relationships deteriorate, it becomes essential to rebuild them and repair the damage that might have been done. But just like any other relationship, it is often more costly in time and resources than just taking the time to maintain those associations in the first place.
I had the challenge of mending broken stakeholder relationships over ten years ago when the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) was under Northern Marianas College. The college was undergoing budget constraints and evaluating which programs should be cut, and the SBDC was on the chopping block. This was because the former director had treated it as an autonomous organization, neglecting the link it had with the college, and therefore the relationship with college personnel deteriorated. At the same time the Center was being pushed away from the college, it was also being pulled by another agency to move the Center under the Commonwealth Development Authority, and in all likelihood, the move was going to happen.
With the position vacant, I was asked to apply for the director’s position in order to help unite the college community with the Center. I was the faculty senate president at the time and worked closely with upper management. When I was hired, my first task was to align the SBDC with the college and demonstrate the vital link it had with the mission and goals of the institution. This was accomplished by creating a strategic plan and creating programs that would immediately benefit the community and reinforce the value we provided to local businesses.
Ironically, the Center had helped numerous business owners develop mission statements and business plans, yet it did not have a plan or a statement of its mission. I worked with the other consultants to create a comprehensive plan that would tie our efforts with the college and community. My purpose was to have a written document outlining how we intended to accomplish certain actions that would create a stronger role with our stakeholder relationships. After several weeks, the plan was finished, presented to the Board of Regents, and given their endorsement.
The next step was to implement the plan. All the consultants worked to develop a six-week program called Business Plan for Success, with the goal to break the planning process into six weekly steps. Each session was taught by the consultants using computers so participants could immediately start working on their business plan. The outcome would be a workable business plan that could serve as the map for growth and success, or to attract capital. We also looked at other programs already scheduled and determined how we could make them more effective.
The end result is that we saved the Center and it remained under the college where it would continue to serve the needs of hundreds of entrepreneurs and established businesses. We were able to strengthen the ties with the college, provide beneficial programs for the community, and continue to work with lending sources and other partners to benefit entrepreneurs. This continued for many years until ongoing budget constraints over the years eventually made the Department of Commerce a more logical home for the Center.
One stakeholder that is often ignored is the government. They definitely have a stake in the success of your business through the collection of taxes and fees. They can either be an advocate or adversary for your business depending on the relationship you’ve developed with local politicians. There are numerous instances when the owner of an organization supported the losing candidate and the consequences were dire.
All healthy relationships rely on open communication, trust, and a willingness to work together to find solutions to a disagreement. Make a list of all your stakeholders and develop a plan to maintain strong ties or reconnect with your key stakeholders.
I had the challenge of mending broken stakeholder relationships over ten years ago when the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) was under Northern Marianas College. The college was undergoing budget constraints and evaluating which programs should be cut, and the SBDC was on the chopping block. This was because the former director had treated it as an autonomous organization, neglecting the link it had with the college, and therefore the relationship with college personnel deteriorated. At the same time the Center was being pushed away from the college, it was also being pulled by another agency to move the Center under the Commonwealth Development Authority, and in all likelihood, the move was going to happen.
With the position vacant, I was asked to apply for the director’s position in order to help unite the college community with the Center. I was the faculty senate president at the time and worked closely with upper management. When I was hired, my first task was to align the SBDC with the college and demonstrate the vital link it had with the mission and goals of the institution. This was accomplished by creating a strategic plan and creating programs that would immediately benefit the community and reinforce the value we provided to local businesses.
Ironically, the Center had helped numerous business owners develop mission statements and business plans, yet it did not have a plan or a statement of its mission. I worked with the other consultants to create a comprehensive plan that would tie our efforts with the college and community. My purpose was to have a written document outlining how we intended to accomplish certain actions that would create a stronger role with our stakeholder relationships. After several weeks, the plan was finished, presented to the Board of Regents, and given their endorsement.
The next step was to implement the plan. All the consultants worked to develop a six-week program called Business Plan for Success, with the goal to break the planning process into six weekly steps. Each session was taught by the consultants using computers so participants could immediately start working on their business plan. The outcome would be a workable business plan that could serve as the map for growth and success, or to attract capital. We also looked at other programs already scheduled and determined how we could make them more effective.
The end result is that we saved the Center and it remained under the college where it would continue to serve the needs of hundreds of entrepreneurs and established businesses. We were able to strengthen the ties with the college, provide beneficial programs for the community, and continue to work with lending sources and other partners to benefit entrepreneurs. This continued for many years until ongoing budget constraints over the years eventually made the Department of Commerce a more logical home for the Center.
One stakeholder that is often ignored is the government. They definitely have a stake in the success of your business through the collection of taxes and fees. They can either be an advocate or adversary for your business depending on the relationship you’ve developed with local politicians. There are numerous instances when the owner of an organization supported the losing candidate and the consequences were dire.
All healthy relationships rely on open communication, trust, and a willingness to work together to find solutions to a disagreement. Make a list of all your stakeholders and develop a plan to maintain strong ties or reconnect with your key stakeholders.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)