Part 4 of a 5-part Series

This is the fourth of a five part series on Recession Success.  Look for all five parts to be posted daily this week.  Each topic will build on the next, so be sure not to miss any by subscribing to our RSS feed or email newsletter and free ebook.

So far this week, we have covered 3 of the 5 keys to success in a slow economy:

1     Create a Community of Clients

2     Network and Build Social Capital that Brings in Business

3     Generate REAL Customer Service that Builds Your Community and Increases Revenue

The fourth is my favorite because it is the most powerful.  It is “Manage Your Team to Produce Results.”

“Duh?”  You say?  ”Of course I am managing my team to produce results… what else would I be training them to do?”  Unfortunately this answer is at the core of your problem.  If you were managing your team to produce results in a way that was working, you would have better results.

So, let’s begin there.  First, you must assume that you are NOT managing them to produce results, because if you were, your results would be better.  When it comes to your staff, you must relate to them like a team.  I like football, so we’re going with that.  If you are the coach of a football team and they consistently get beaten, there are one of two problems:

1. you are not providing them with what the training and practice need to be skilled at scoring points, or
2. you don’t have the right people on the team; you need more talent

In this same line of thought, if you are your staff’s manager (coach) and they are not producing the level of sales/results that you want, you are not providing them with the skillset and training they need to sell/deliver more or you need to fire them and find people that can do what you need.  Harsh, I know.  But if you are committed to getting your business flourishing, you must do what it takes to get the job done.

Since the solution to #2 is obvious, we will assume that you are the problem.  Look at where the breakdowns are in your business: Are there enough customers?  Is the closing ratio decent?  Are you offering products or services that people actually want?

The place where there are no (or low) results will point to the breakdown in training.  For instance, if you aren’t getting enough customers in the door, then you are not effectively training your staff to attract them.  If you have people coming in, but aren’t selling to enough of them, you need to train your staff in closing strategies.

Looking at the results will always give you a solution to the breakdown.  And, managing your team based on their results will always increase the results.  Your expectations of what each person should produce should be clear and managed.  If you sell computers and you want to generate a minimum of $1,000 in revenue each day, each of your staff should have a goal for what they need to sell each day, each month and each year.  They need to be held accountable for managing this goal and you need to be in communication with them frequently (at least weekly) about how they are doing.  If they are not meeting their goals, look to the breakdown and see what is missing in training or skillset, then put it in.

Managing your team for results takes clear cut goals/expectations, weekly management of those goals and then follow up of acknowledgement and appreciation when they meet them, or training when the fail.

If you put this one principle to work in your business, you cannot fail.

Tomorrow, find out the one thing you can do to generate continual profits!

Part 3 of a 5-part Series

This is the third of a five part series on Recession Success.  Look for all five parts to be posted daily this week.  Each topic will build on the next, so be sure not to miss any by subscribing to our RSS feed or email newsletter and free ebook.

Customer service is not just how you sell things to people who show up in your business or call for information.  REAL customer service is the series of actions your organization takes everyday to keep their clients’ business and attract new clients.  Good customer service is based on relationship and is the difference between a company that is proactive and one that simply reacts.  Poor customer service is the #1 reason businesses fail, and the likelihood of failure because of poor customer service  grows exponentially in a slow economy.

Most people define the use of customer service to attract new clients as marketing, but I disagree.  The minute you label these activities as marketing, you take the relationship factor out of the formula; and RELATIONSHIP is the most important factor.  When most people hear the word marketing, they think they means sales and they omit relationship.  It’s like trying to get married by having a series of one night stands, and then wondering what you are doing wrong.

Every business on the planet should be taking ACTION steps every day to build their community of clients and create a long-term, loyalty-based relationship with them.  You must understand WHO your ideal client is, WHAT their needs are, and HOW to reach them effectively.

As a successful business owner, your job is to forge a dynamic relationship with your customer.  You need to talk with him, interact with him, and get to know him better.  It is imperative that you understand his motivations and his personality.  You need to have employees that are friendly, open and committed to your customers.  All of you must demonstrate that you value each one as a customer, and hopefully give them lots of reasons to adore you and express that adoration publicly.  The more you do this, the more you will succeed.  Now, keep in mind though, there there will always be be “one night stands;” people who are interested in obtaining your product or service and then they disappear. These are not the customers I’m talking about.  Let them go and spend your time on the ones that want to be in your community.

Challenge:  What are three things you can do this week (or train your employees to do) that will help you build REAL customer service and relationships with your clients?  Try them out and report back how it went.  I would love to hear your success stories!

Tomorrow: Find out how to Manage Your Team for Results!

Part 2 of a 5-part Series

This is the second of a five part series on Recession Success.  Look for all five parts to be posted daily this week.  Each topic will build on the next, so be sure not to miss any by subscribing to our RSS feed or email newsletter and free ebook.

If you keep doing the same thing in your business, you will produce the same results.  That’s great if you are a multi-millionaire with too much money and too much time on your hands… but in this economy, many businesses are failing because of their unwillingness to reach out to customers and build their community of clients.  Relationship  makes or breaks your business.

The same could be said of networking for entrepreneurs… it is relationship that makes or breaks your business.  There is simply nothing more important than building your social capital.  The “Rule of 300″ says that every person has about 300 people in their circle of influence.  This translates to about 90,000 people.  If you account for some overlap in relationships, this number is still at least 50,000.  What are you doing to maximize your relationships, build social capital and make lasting connections that build your business?

This is the first and best way for you to increase business; build relationships that generate increased revenue.

Relationship + Committed Conversation = Results

A client of mine recently shared a book with me about emotional equations… this inspired me to create a success equation of my own.  Relationship + Committed Conversation = Results   This simple equation is the key to using your social capital to produce big results in your business.

First, you build your relationships.  Write a list of 30 people (we’ll start small, remember you’ve got about 300!)  Decide what you are committed to building in your business (this is the “committed conversation” part.)  Then call each of the 30 and tell them the result you are trying to produce (the committed conversation) and ask them for their help.  What can they do to support you in achieving this result?

Sit back and watch the miracles happen… and for those of you REALLY committed to success… don’t stop at 30.

Try this challenge and come back and share in the “comments” section, what miracles you produced.

Part 1 of a 5-part Series

This is the first of a five part series on Recession Success.  Look for all five parts to be posted daily this week.  Each topic will build on the next, so be sure not to miss any by subscribing to our RSS feed or email newsletter and free ebook.

Every day you see articles in the paper about this business closing, that business failing and how the state of the economy is killing entrepreneurship and small business in America.  Don’t believe everything you read.  

Journalist are misguided.  People are not refusing to spend money.  Entrepreneurship isn’t dead.  Small businesses are not doomed to fail.  Businesses aren’t failing in this recession-minded economy because people aren’t spending money.  Businesses are failing because people are MORE SELECTIVE about where they spend their money and business owners are sitting on their butts, not doing enough to reach out and grab that business.  Business owners are waiting for the economy to turn or an easy solution, rather than BEING THE SOLUTION THEMSELVES.  This is why they fail.  It is plain and simple, businesses that are failing are not doing enough to reach out and get the business they need.

Every business on the planet should be taking ACTION steps every day to build their community of clients.  A COMMUNITY of clients are the people that you see every day, week or month; the people that are building YOUR business with their hard-earned cash.  If you are not treating these customers as your community, you are missing the mark.  A community attitude breeds loyalty and a growing following.  It creates what Ken Blanchard has coined as “raving fans.”  (He has a great book by the same name.)

In a recession-minded economy you need to understand the importance of treating your clients in a way that they become emotionally-attached to your business.  You need to create a customer experience that meets their needs, both product/service-wise, as well as emotionally.  People want to belong to something special; be a part of something amazing.  Why would they want to “belong” in your business or organization?  The first step is to find out what your customers are saying about your business.  What is working, and, more importantly, where are you failing?  You need to work to understand what your customer’s needs and desires are, beyond just providing them with a product.  Are they looking for a particular experience, more acknowledgement or something else that would have them shop your business more frequently?  What needs do they have that you are not currently meeting?

Next, you need to align your employees on a vision for your service strategy.  What does your sales funnel look like (i.e. What is your customer’s experience from first call/walk-in to sale?)  What kind of follow up and ongoing participation do you have in your client’s lives?  How do you plan to stay connected, related and encourage them to participate?  What kinds of sales/events/specials can you offer to increase repeat business?  You need to create an experience for your customers that is consistently replicated each time they enter your shop or office, as well as when they call you on the phone.  The key to this is creating internal systems that maintain that consistency and making sure that every employee is trained in the protocols.

The final step to creating a community of clients that is energized and passionate (and therefore, buying) is to get them excited about something you are doing.  This happens when you deliver a consistent message and be in communication on a regular basis with them in a variety of ways; this includes getting feedback and LISTENING TO THEM.  Email newsletters are great, but cannot be your only means of communication.  You need to get yourself (or your employees) on the phone and call your customers.  You need to reach out and go the extra mile when you are in relationship with them.

In a recession-minded economy, you must THINK OUT OF THE BOX.  You must do things you have never done before and try a new approach until you find something that works.  When that new approach stops working, toss it out and find your next new approach.

Tomorrow, discover “What is Your Social Capital?”

I recently discovered a book by Chip Conley called Emotional Equations.  This book puts our psychology in layman’s terms, in a formulaic approach.  According to Conley, the book “explores our emotions by separating out the ingredients which combine to create Anxiety, Love, Jealousy, Curiosity, Regret, Happiness, and many more emotions which can run our lives.  It introduces a refreshing new way to better understand and manage the one thing we all have in common: our emotions.”

I have found the book to be a great tool to really distinguish emotions and values and give my clients access to what these values actually look like, in practice, in their lives.  Conley’s emotional equation for authenticity is:

AUTHENTICITY =  SELF-AWARENESS X COURAGE

The outward expression of authenticity is a no-holds-barred, in-your-face life, lived with passion and joy and no regrets. Our individual struggle for meaning and purpose is deeply linked to our authenticity.  If we are clear about who we are and where we are going, then we live authentically.  If we are unsure, goal-less or put on a “front,” then we live inconsistently and out of integrity.

Authenticity is the key to living a life in integrity and the on-the-field result of living that life with self-awareness and courage.  Do you know who you are and where you are going?

“Today’s revolutionaries look like you and me. They are in our companies. They are in our government. They start businesses. They run schools. They look ahead and say “I believe in a world way better than this one.”  ~Simon Sinek

What would you like to change?  This is the question with which every revolution (and, therefore, revolutionary) starts.  Every day people just like you and me look at life and see a problem and then begin innovating until they find a solution.  Sometimes the solution is technological, sometimes it’s a change in societal beliefs.  Sometimes the innovation is new software or a product or an idea… but it all starts with a conversation.

Revolutionaries see a vision and commit their lives to making it happen.  They begin to make it happen by starting with verbalizing their commitment: Thomas Jefferson saw the possibility of a new kind of government for America.  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “had a dream” that one day all men would be equal.  Robert F. Kennedy saw that America could land the first man on the moon.

Whoever the visionaries are that you look up to, every one of them has a single thing in common: they began with a dream and began to vocalize it.  The power of conversation and a soul committed to generating it, is a force to be reckoned with.

Who are you and what are your dreams?  Maybe it’s not to change the world… but what about your community?  Or your family?  All of us are destined for more.  Today is the day you stop settling and you begin to dream.

No matter your social or economic status, your level of education or your life situation, YOU have the first tool you need to make it happen.  You have your conversation.  What will you say next?

For more inspiration and to get a pulse on today’s up-and-coming revolutionaries, read more at: http://www.utne.com/2008-11-13/50-Visionaries-Who-Are-Changing-Your-World.aspx

The first place to start is with Backwards Planning Strategy.  This is where you take your goal (perhaps you want to accomplish it by the end of the year), and then imagine you in December, goal accomplished and examine what you would have done to accomplish it.  Take all of these things and create action items that make up a plan.  Then transfer each action item to your calendar, so that it takes your vision from pipe dream to real time.  There are specific directions on this process in my free ebook “7 Steps to a Life You Love” and materials for the process under “free tools” under the “change your life” tab on my home page.  Check it out.

The key to achieving your goals is to break them down into small action items that will, in the long-term, produce your big results.  You’ve heard that old saying “How do you eat an elephant?  ONE BITE AT A TIME…”  It’s the same with your goals.

Also, be sure to subscribe (in the upper right hand if you click on this subscribe link) to my blog via email or RSS feed.  This way you can get tips every Monday, Wednesday and Friday on how to live a better life and build a better business.  Happy planning!

Some people think that there is just an inherent “you” inside; that you are a fixed possibility that changes and grows only moderately each year.  I believe you’ve got much more of a choice.  I believe in transformation.

When you are committed to living a life on the edge of productivity and awareness, you design your “why” and create who you are every single year.  Transformation requires us to be awake in our lives.  We must know who we are and be aware of changes as our lives and priorities shift.  We must cause a shift in who we are by better understanding ourselves and taking on challenging areas of growth.

Here are some questions to start your inquiry.  Here are the ground rules for doing the exercise:  Write every answer down.  Don’t skip any.  If there are questions you’ve never thought of, or you don’t know how to answer, make something up.  Don’t leave any question unanswered and be sure to answer them in the order they are asked.

1. What are the top 3 most important things in your life?
2. What 5 words best describe you?
3. What are 5 of your biggest personality weaknesses?
4. What are 5 of your biggest personality strengths?
5. What are 3 things that are missing in your life?
6. If you wrote a mission statement for you life, what would it be?
7. Name 3 things that stand between you and being happy?
8. Why does your life matter?
9. What are your 3 biggest fears?
10. How do they manifest themselves in your life?
11. What is one thing you know for sure?
12. What is the one thing you hate most?
13. What are the 5 biggest issues you struggle with?
14. Name 10 things you should have done.
15. What is more important to you: security or excitement?
16. What are 3 activities that you get lost in?
17. What’s the most difficult decision you’ve ever made?
18. What’s the best decision you’ve ever made?
19. What are you most grateful for?
20. Name 5 things you have always wanted, but don’t have yet.
21. Name 5 things you have always wanted TO DO, but haven’t yet.
22. In a perfect world, I would _____________________.
23. What three words describe your life during this past year?
24. What’s the number one change you need to make in your life in the next twelve months?
25. What’s the number one thing you want to achieve in the next five years?
26. In order of importance, how would you rank: happiness, money, love, health, fame?
27. What is the one thing missing from your life?
28. Name 5 things you want to do right now, but feel you cannot.
29. What 1 thing do most people think is important, that you do not?
30. What is 1 thing that most people think is UNimportant, that you think is?
31. What has been your most unattainable goal in life so far?
32. What makes you most proud about yourself?
33. What embarrasses you most about yourself?
34. Name 3 books you would like to read.
35. What is your favorite movie?
36. Why does that movie appeal to you?
37. I wish I made $_____________________ a year.
38. If you could change lives with any one person, who would it be?
39. Why?
40. What 1 habit could you give up that would significantly improve your life?
41. What 1 habit could you begin that would significantly improve your life?
42. What is a career/job you always wished you had?
43. What is one career/job you would never do?
44. I wish I would have ___________________.
45. What is your favorite quote?
46. If you could meet any 3 people, who would you meet?
47. If you won a $10M lottery right now, what would be the first thing you’d buy?
48. If you could change one thing about yourself overnight, what would it be?
49. If you could improve one relationship in your life, which one would it be?
50. What did you discover from doing this exercise?

When you stop chasing the wrong things you give the right things a chance to catch you.

Creating a new you is more frequently about what you stop doing than what you start.  In a world where we are overwhelmed with to do lists, appointments, crammed schedules and activity, the best place to start the new year is in silence.  Just stop.

Stop and examine 2011.  Stop and see what worked and what didn’t work.  Before creating goals and a vision plan, you need to evaluate.  Make some time to tell yourself the cold hard truth of your life: where you’ve achieved and where you’ve failed.  This year, do it from a different perspective: choose 3 things you are NOT going to do all year.

Here is a great resource to start with: 30 Things to Stop Doing to Yourself.  What’s on your list?

“Fear is the mind-killer.  Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration.  I will face my fear.  I will permit it to pass over me and through me.  And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.  Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.  Only I will remain.“ ~Bene Gesserit “Litany Against Fear,” from Frank Herbert’s Dune

Fear is the biggest roadblock in most of our lives.  We are afraid of failure, looking like an idiot, not knowing the right answer… it probably all started in first grade when we dared to raise our hand, the teacher called on us and we said something wrong and got laughed at by the entire class.  We’re afraid of trying new things, some of us are even afraid of success.  We spin our wheels, year after year, trying to overcome fear so that we can accomplish what we are really committed to in life.  We think that giving fear “the finger” means resisting the fear and ignoring the fear.

But we’ve got it all wrong.  Having fear isn’t actually the problem.  It’s that we allow ourselves to be stopped by it.  We think that fear is an immovable wall that we need to break down in order to get through to our dreams.  This is not the case.  The dialogue above is so right!  Fear is a mind-killer.  It robs of us our dreams; it blocks the view of what is possible for us in life. It is “the little death that brings total obliteration.”  If we succumb to fear in our lives, we are left with nothing.

How do we FACE fear?  That is the million-dollar question.  The lottery answer is to let it be; “permit it to pass over (you) and through (you.)  And when it has gone past, (you) will turn the inner eye to see its path.  Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.  Only (you) will remain.”  The fingers we need to give fear are peace fingers.  We must be at peace with it and allow it to be.

When you notice that you are scared or stopped, acknowledge the fear.  Breathe deeply.  Don’t react to it.  Notice the feelings and let them pass over you.  Make the conscious choice to keep moving, in spite of them.  Every feeling has a beginning and an end… the key is to make it to the end of it.  Once you do that, you are free to invent your life fully, with everything possible.