Do You Have A People Strategy?

"Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers."

- Tony Robbins  

 

From Seth Godin:

Hard to imagine a consultant or investor asking the CMO, "So, what's your telephone strategy?"

We don't have a telephone strategy. The telephone is a tool, a simple medium, and it's only purpose is to connect us to interested human beings.

And then the internet comes along and it's mysterious and suddenly we need an email strategy and a social media strategy and a web strategy and a mobile strategy.

No, we don't.

It's still people. We still have one and only one thing that matters, and it's people.

All of these media are conduits, they are tools that human beings use to waste time or communicate or calculate or engage or learn. Behind each of the tools is a person. Do you have a story to tell that person? An engagement or a benefit to offer them?

(Rick Editorial: I would add, do you know your Ideal Customer? Their pains and fears? Are you offering unique solutions to these pains and fears? Are you talking about them and not you?)

Figure out the people part and the technology gets a whole lot simpler.

All the best,

Rick Wallace 

The Power of Serving In Your Marketing

"It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed." 

- Napoleon Hill, author

The power of information marketing is growing every day. I constantly suggest to my clients that Serving is better than selling. Understand your Ideal Customer/Prospect and build a message or Value Proposition that first speaks about them and their pain, then about what you do and why you are different or the best at doing it.

The power of this approach was demonstrated to me yesterday while listening to the radio on the way to a client meeting. There is a company called Buffalo Hardwood which sells and installs wood flooring here in town. The owner came on and said (I paraphrase here):

"It seems like every day I talk to someone who says they can't have wood floors in their home because they have a dog. They fear the dogs nails will scratch and ruin the flooring so they put tile or some other floor covering in their homes. With the new hardwoods and new finishes we have now you can absolutely have wood floors and own a dog. American cherry and several other woods are too soft to work but we have a wide selection of other woods and finishes that will never scratch, etc. Then he talked about his company and why they were the best solution and different from the rest."

 

If he would have done the usual commercial "telling me all about him and his company, how long they have been in business, how great they are, that they are the best, etc." I would not have heard a word of it. But he talked about a pain I have, something I could relate to, so I tuned in.  

My wife and I have talked about replacing our foyer with wood flooring but had always ruled it out because of our dog. When I got home I went straight to my wife and told her we could have wood floors with our dog. Now we plan to go to the store and see what they have.  

Find the pain and then create TIPS like the one above that solves your Ideal Customer's pain and fears. Serve them by sharing information and then get it in front of them with email, Facebook, radio, direct mail, however you get your messaging out. Serve don't sell.  

All the best,

Rick Wallace 

Serve and Your Success Will Come

"Go out and mow a lawn."

- Michael McNeil 
(What? Listen to the 4 minute audio below)

A few years ago I traveled to the west coast to attend coaching school with Steve Chandler. He remains my coach and mentor, and in the class was a guy named Michael McNeil who was a well-known coach in his own right. Steve always talked about the fact you cannot "sell" coaching. People have to want it and be fully committed to it for it to pay dividends and work.

Of course as an old marketing/sales guy that threw me for a loop. Then how was I going to get any clients?

He said be a coach and serve people. In fact, he convinced me that that is the way every business should operate. Don't sell, don't please, simply serve and you will become successful. You know, it works. It has worked for me and it works for my clients.

Every time I have proposed to a client that they have to find a way to serve their prospects I get push back like, "I can't afford to do that" or "I can't give my ideas and solutions out to everyone, then they won't need me", etc.

You will be much more successful serving (i.e. demonstrating what you can do for them) than spending all your time and money trying to sell them on what you do. Think of it as a cost of marketing. That time you spend serving can then be weighed against the return in sales and leads. It will be the best ROI you have ever had.

What could you offer prospects for FREE that would demonstrate the value your product or service and how it solves the pains of your Ideal Customers?

Listen to this  4 minute audio from Michael on this - mowing lawns.

All the best,

Rick Wallace 

5 Crucial Lessons the Marines Taught Me About Business

"The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers." 

 - Ralph Nader

 

This week we have a guest article that I found to be right on the mark as far as what it takes to be a great leader:

5 Crucial Lessons the Marines Taught me about Business

By: Roger Boneno

Someone asked me the other day to help him with his thesis for graduate school. His question was centered on what I learned in the Marine Corps that has helped me in my business life.

What a great question! When I reflect on it, the Marines teach amazing business skills:

1. Even when the challenges seem insurmountable; if you have the right motivation, you will find a way to overcome whatever you are facing. Anyone who has experienced a USMC Drill Instructor in his ear when you're tired and think you cannot go on, knows that you CAN find a way to go on with the right motivation.  It is the same for your business. If you find yourself not doing enough to grow your business, it is usually because you have not given yourself the right motivation in terms of a goal.  It does not HAVE to be money. In fact, if you've written down a dollar figure time and time again; but STILL find yourself not doing enough, then it is probably time to re-examine your goals.
    
2. A good leader knows how to help people do what they sometimes do not want to do, by helping them see the bigger goal. Contrary to what some people say, Marines do not all have a "death wish." In reality, they do understand how important their roles are in achieving victory. This is essential whether you are leading people into battle; or leading a team in the corporate world. As a consultant and coach, I see business owners constantly complaining about how their team is "lazy" or "unmotivated." However, usually this is because the team does not understand the vision for the company as well as how each team member's tasks contribute to achievement of that vision. Or, it is because you have hired the wrong person. It is YOUR ROLE as the leader to hire the right people, and then help them make that connection.
    
3. Chaos and lack of success are YOUR fault; because you should have had a clear plan and done the scenario analysis in advance. Great battles may look like chaos from the outside, and almost never go perfectly according to plan. However, they are usually won or lost by the strength of the strategy, clearly defined goals and leadership set in place beforehand. We had a simple saying we called the 6 "P's: Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance (yes that is 5, because the 6th was censored).
    
4. Don't wait for the "other guy" to do it; be willing to be first. The Marines have a saying: "First to Fight."  As the first ones in, the Marines believe that their training, preparation, and leadership will allow them to overcome the uncertainty factor of not knowing EXACTLY what might happen. In business, the roadside is littered with people who had big dreams; but did not have the confidence to move forward without perfect certainty. To be clear: if you feel this fear, it actually may be well-founded if you have not taken the steps to train and prepare. So, perhaps you do not hire people because you are afraid of the challenges of managing them. Or, you do not invest in marketing because you do not understand how to write good copy, test, and measure results to maximize Return on Investment. But, all of this can be learned.
    
5. Finally, know your information, your history and the lessons they hold. On the first day of Marine Corps boot camp, we got a book we called our "Knowledge." It contained rules, regulations, and a lot of history about great battles and leaders. Were they expecting us to learn the ENTIRE contents? Actually...yes. I am NOT saying that you should do everything like it has been done in the past. I AM saying that, unless you understand history and the "rules of engagement," you will tend to make far more mistakes. MANY businesses fail because the owner has bought into the myth that the best teacher is the "school of hard knocks." Yes, that is the MOST EXPENSIVE school, but it is not the best. If you want to grow a big business that makes money and does not require you to work 16 hours/day; then learn from someone who has been there and knows what it takes to help grow a big business.

Helping Hand - Firm Push

 "Sometimes the best helping hand you can get is a good, firm push."

 - Jo Ann Thomas

 

Man is that true. I have worked now with well over 50 small business owners across the US and Canada and the power of this quote is echoed over and over.

This is the essence of Coaching. Whether it is in athletics, the arts, life in general or business, it all comes down to the fact that great coaches bring Accountability.

We all yearn to have a team of people who are accountable for their actions and more importantly their results.

Accountability starts at the top and the problem is that small business owners are usually not accountable to anyone but themselves. Oh yes your employees and family look to you for leadership and money, but that is responsibility not accountability.

A good coach brings accountability to the engagement and the money you invest (yes invest you will get an ROI on it) solidifies it.

Working Sessions and assignments ensure you block the time each week to work on making your business better. It is not working harder, it is the fact you are focusing on the right things, the things that will make you a better leader, your employees more productive and your company more profitable.

Will coaching work for you? It works for everyone that is committed to taking their dream and turning it into a project - committed to focusing 2-3 hours a week on making yourself and the business better and more profitable.

See what these business owners say about the power of coaching.  

All the best,

Rick Wallace 

Why Being a Meaner Boss Can Help Your Company

 "Whatever you are willing to put up with is exactly what you will have."

 - Anonymous

 

With all our focus on Core Culture, Values etc. sometimes we need to be reminded that there is a balance that needs to be created in your business. As a leader, you need to be strong, sometimes brutally honest, quick to make personnel decisions and provide day-to-day direction and correction. Employees usually want and seek structure in their company.  

This 3 minute read provides some insights from the latest study on leadership.

All the best,
Rick Wallace

When did you know IBM would become a colossus?

 "The first day, I had a very clear picture of what the company would look like when it was finally done. I realized that for IBM to become a great company it would have to act like a great company long before it ever became one."

   - Thomas Watson, Founder IBM

Vision is the starting point of any great business. We have discussed many times the key ingredients of The Leadership Matrix, a 9 step process that will result in a great company. Clarity is the First cell.

Jim Collins, Rockefeller, Gerber, Nightingale, Napoleon Hill, Emerson, Aristotle, all the great minds wrote about and practiced the habits of success.  

It takes Clarity, Focus (Actions)and Execution to succeed at anything in life and especially business.

Clarity is Vision, Goals and a Core Purpose.

The quote above it all about the power of Vision.

What is your Vision for your company? It must come from you, no one is going to set it for you!

Take a few minutes today and write down your Vision for your company in 2020. Make it detailed, what will your role be, how big, how many employees, management positions, locations or size of facilities, etc.

"If you don't know where you are going you might not get there"

- Yogi Berra - I forgot about the greatest mind of all (grin)

Communicate this every week to your team along with your Core Purpose, your Why.