When you quote a price,

do you quote a schedule?

     When you tell a story,  do you use a timeline?

     You’re in sales, right?  Of course you are! You own or run a business or professional practice or company department? Then you’re in sales. You work at the top crossbeam of a new skyscraper construction site? You’re in sales.

     You work inside an underground  storage container or facility? You’re in sales? You don’t work at all? You’re in sales. And since now that you’ve found out that you are in fact in sales, it’s important to know how important it is for you to make maximum use of a timeline.

     Why? Funny you should ask. You knew I had the answer, right?  Okay, here it comes. Because a timeline helps make your sales points quicker and simpler. It helps your prospects, customers, bosses, parents (and anyone you need to influence) to understand your frame of reference more clearly and more readily.

     When you propose a fee for providing a service,  for example, you must be prepared to give a target date for completion. In some cases, you can hedge it a bit by estimating 60-90 days or 1-2 hours or 9-10 months, but be quick to support the reason for not being more specific. Specific is best. Always.

     Why? (You knew that was coming, right?)  Here’s why:  For a goal to be a goal instead of just a meaningless “wish,” it needs to be specific, realistic, flexible and have a due date. (And, yes, it must be all four of those things or it is fantasy and fantasy doesn’t get things done!)

     To promise something by a specific date  gives you credibility and a certain amount of accompanying trust, which of course you need to fulfill on or notify the payer as far in advance as possible of the need to extend the time period… and why.

     You would be amazed  at how many people don’t automatically build a timeline into their planning, sales pitch, agenda, project, program, meeting, advertisement, work schedule, new product or service launch, construction or revitalization effort, financial review, or story.

     As a writer,  I find the inclusion of a timeline related to job completion to be essential, but I also find that including a timeline reference inside the actual writing –whether it’s a commissioned book or a brochure, advertisement or website– has value in and of itself.

     Part of the credibility and fascination  of the “story” or “sales pitch” will often actually evolve directly from an integrated timeline. Juxtaposing historic events alongside a biographical story, for example, or as part of “what happened when” in the “About Us” webpage, or as a schedule of events in an ad or brochure can give your presentation the teeth it needs to attract attention and create interest! 

# # # 

The Latest Business Myths

 (Not for the feisty or feint-hearted)

     MADMEN,  the award-winning TV show is (sorry folks!) NOT a true-to-life representation of big-time Madison Avenue advertising agencies in the 1960’s and ’70’s. I was there then, and in the thick of it. Yes, most people smoked cigarettes then and there, but not as rudely as depicted. Yes, politics pervaded agency meeting and presentation rooms, but not as brashly as depicted. So, the show aims to get a rise, and perhaps it does (I find it boring), but there’s hardly much truth to it. In fact, most smokers then were smoking more than cigarettes at their desks! (No, this is not a reference to the smoking of banana peels!)  

     SALES LEAD GENERATION.  This has replaced Search Engine Optimization as the business world’s biggest smoke and mirrors act! In the past week alone, I have received over 100 email and Twitter solicitations to engage the services of (Rah-Rah-Sis-Boom-Bah!) Lead Generation “Coaches,” Lead Generation “Resource Centers,” Lead Generation “Experts” and “Professionals,” Lead Generation “Counselors” (presumably to assist those poor souls who’ve generated altogether too many leads!) and all other jump-on-the-bandwagon, nutcase varieties of people who truly must be fooling themselves. With so many great sales leads to offer, would you think they have to sell so hard? I guess they just “generate” them so we can all actually use them.

     HAVE I GOT A DEAL FOR YOU!  It is really interesting the levels of desperation that legitimate business professionals choose to set themselves up to get dragged into. Have you noticed lately how the economy has created a deal on every corner? No longer just the blowtorch approach of car dealership salespeople, now we are being offered deals from all manner of retailers and service businesses, even doctors and nursing homes (whoops, sorry, long-term care facilities) are doing two-for-one deals. Right! My 96 year-old neighbor and I come as a package deal. Uh, rebates?

     STRATEGIC ALLIANCES  are all the rage. This simply means: No, there’s not enough money laying around to hire your services because the economy sucks eggs, so — instead — we’re (I’m) making this magnificent offer to you to engage your talents on behalf of our (my) interests and in exchange you’ll get a free banner on our website (that btw we need you to write for us) and we’ll even throw in “a ton of sales leads” that we generate for top clients. It’s your chance to see where your hard work can lead (oh, that word again).

     THE ECONOMY IS TURNING AROUND. Yeah, like the QEII in New Jersey’s Metedeconk River. Keep on kidding yourself, and — for a touch of reality — be checking the bills in your wallet as you assure your bankers and investors that Grandma should break out the tambourines because the business world is getting ready to rise again. You go girl!    

# # # 

Stuff always gets worse

before it gets worse.

December, 2008: Gutless, Incompetent, Greedy: The US Postal Service http://halalpiar.com/2008/12/no-more-room-for-snail-mail/\

March. 2009: Having grown up a mailman’s son, maybe I’m just sentimental (or simply as stupid as the PO?) http://halalpiar.com/2009/03/23-lifelines-tossed-to-the-post-office/

August, 2009: Not just tech triumphs, the PO is a self-fulfilling sinking http://halalpiar.com/?s=postal+service

     …and yes,  there were other blog posts beating on the PO, and hoping for some light to penetrate the organization’s self-imposed deathwatch. But no, it mustn’t be in the cards. The US Postal Service does nothing to help itself, choosing instead to just keep digging a deeper grave!

The most recent proof  of ignorance came in the form of a 32-page atrocity of an ignorant, out-of-step excuse for a magazine delivered, it appears, to PO Boxes nationwide.  Campbell-Ewald Publishing should be ashamed of itself for putting out such politically-motivated trash in the name of the dying Postal Service, instead of taking a constructive stand on behalf of Postal Service customers!

  It’s just more evidence  of the sea of federal government incompetency that dictates to and surrounds the United States Postal Service … surely an organization (and I use the term loosely) destined for the next federal bailout after, let’s see, is it newspapers that are now being considered?

Please, spare us the insult!  Why on Earth cannot SOMEone with some business savvy step forward and get Congressional blessing to take control of this rapidly fading and no longer relevant entity that has simply lost touch with reality.

Businesses are failing  left and right. Families are struggling to make a living. The federal government sends $529 million tax dollars (reported today!) to Fantasyman Al Gore’s new automobile company so he can manufacture and sell cars in Finland! If this isn’t astonishing all by ityself, you must be living on Mars!

So along comes the Postal Service  with yet another elaborate, expensive promotional piece with thinly disguised heavy support for badly misguided Administration environmental policies. Why am I reminded of the story about being preoccupied with rearranging deck chairs while the cruise ship is sinking?

How many families  can you think of right now that are worried about environmental problems? It’s a little hard to focus on the spotted owl and Mr. Gore’s make-believe global warming issues when there’s a need to put food on the table and pay the mortgage… or pay for the gas to drive the car to go to the post office to pick up the mail!

Wouldn’t you think  the Postal Service would be standing on its head to compete in the marketplace and make the most of its resources to exercise some leadership geared to helping businesses get back on their feet instead of throwing bad money after bad money producing pricey lackluster materials that no one cares about?

# # # 

No, there’s never

a day that you’re

 not being evaluated

by SOMEone!

     Maybe you thought  since you run your business or department that you have passed all the tests and no longer need to be on the alert for others’ assessments? Braaaaaaaat! Wrong! You are being evaluated right this very minute by SOMEone, even as you read this.

     How do I know?  Because years of frontline experience as a consultant, writer, and teacher have proven the point thousands of times over.  Business owners, managers and entrepreneurs are high-profile folks who — like it or not — project parental images to almost all employees, many customers and most suppliers. YOU are a surrogate Mommy or Daddy. Yes, you are!

     And that image carries certain responsibilities.  You don’t have to agree with me or like what you’re hearing, but it’s the absolute truth! At some level, which is arguably different for everyone, people think of their bosses as parents. They won’t admit it, but they do!

     So, Daddy and Mommy,  if you want productivity from your employees, sales from your customers and cooperation from your suppliers (and referrers and investors, by the way), you need to adjust your attitude to make the most of the recognition afforded you, even if it is an unconscious and/or unwelcome level of recognition.

     Does this mean  you should now start treating everyone around you like children? Hardly. It does mean, though, that you need to be a touch more neurotic than you already may be because you need to be — as Thoreau once advised — forever on the alert!

     Like accepting the heat if you work in the kitchen,  recognizing and making the most of the respect accorded you is not only necessary, it is a great opportunity. Every encounter you have every day with every employee and customer and supplier is an chance to demonstrate your leadership and your integrity.

     You are being watched  when you think no one’s looking. You are being listened to when you think no one’s paying attention. You are having your Tweet read on twitter by someone somewhere who could make a difference for you and your business.

     Don’t make yourself into a basket case  over this news. Choose instead to honor and respect those who look up to you and who seek your guidance and who lurk quietly in the shadows waiting to learn from you.

     You have what it takes.  You got to where you are because you believe in yourself and your ideas. Accept the responsibility to lead and motivate and encourage and teach others around you because it will come back to you when you least expect it. Guaranteed! 

# # #

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  Hal@Businessworks.US   302.933.0116

  Open Minds Open Doors 

   Thanks for your visit and God Bless You.

  Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Are You Ahead Of Your Time?

     As a fledgling  and occasionally sarcastic business professor in 1974, I made two predictions to my marketing students:

1)  The day will come when  some opportunistic HBA (Health & Beauty Aids) company (aren’t they all?) posing as a pharmaceutical firm (don’t they all?) will launch a big new product splash into the marketplace, announcing the revolutionary new “BEHIND THE KNEES DEODORANT AND ANTI-PERSPIRANT” for those embarrassing odors associated with leg draping over the edge of a seat while sitting (imagine the booming market for drivers!). Okay, hasn’t happened yet, but — as they say at the NY Lottery — “Hey! Ya’Neva know!”

2)  The day will also come when  we will all have microchips  (which only barely existed then and, those that did, probably held 10 pages worth and were maybe the size of a half-dollar) embedded in our foreheads  that will allow us to tune-in to any TV or radio station, play any album (33’s and 8-tracks at that time) and call or answer any call — without a phone — by simply thinking of the person or organization we wanted contact with. Uh, this too hasn’t yet happened … yet … but …

     Truth is  that if you’re thinking about stuff like this, I hope you are either an independently wealthy entrepreneur, a scientist being paid to drum up challenges for some corporate R&D department, or a sicko mental case.

     Being ahead of your time  is a waste of time. It is also like a tip-toe through Disneyland because it is mega-fantasy … because it is not here, now; so it is not reality.

     Excursions into fantasyland  can occasionally be helpful — as in underscoring a point with a class full of marketing students. But if you’re running a business, run the business!

     The farther you drift  away from what’s right in front of your face on a day-to-day basis, the farther your bottom line will drift away. And with today’s econ… got the drift?

     Pay attention to  the customer, the employee, the referrer, the supplier who is looking at you, speaking with you, emailing you, Twittering you right this minute! Success is the journey, not the destination! 

     Don’t stop dreaming,  just save it for when you go to bed!

# # # 

What’s eating you is

what you are eating.

     Now, waitaminute!  I am not some flaky diet fanatic who claims to know the best ways to get your minimum daily calorie, saturated fat, lard and grease requirements. I am not on any brown rice and bean crusade. And I could care less if you think the Food Pyramid belongs in the desert somewhere.

     Here’s what I have to say:  You own or operate a business and/or you are an entrepreneur or you manage a business or a big chunk of a business, and/or you’re a professional salesperson. The last thing you need is to have to be sick in bed, run dry of energy, be speeding your brains out on the amphetamines in diet drugs, or getting any fatter than you are, right?

     Then why do you insist  on inventing reasons that you can only afford the time or the money to subsist on Oreos, Coke and Pepsi, Dunkin Donuts, Big Macs, Gummy Bears, Kentucky Fried Chicken, whipped cream in your latte, butter/syrup/jelly AND powdered sugar on your pancakes, 3-martini lunches, and those foil-wrapped dark chocolate and potato-chip stashes you keep hidden in your purse or briefcase?

     I’m not even going to talk about  all the big-time clogged artery-type physical ailments that accompany junkfood dependency. Let’s just stick with business stuff here. Are you REALLY serious about making your business work? If you are, you need to be REALLY serious about making yourSELF work because it takes two to tango (or even lap dance!).

     If you’re finding yourself  getting more irritable lately, don’t blame it on the economy. But you might want to do an honest assessment of what you’ve been eating and drinking. If you’re not sleeping well, and you’re tired a lot, take an inventory of what you’ve been eating and drinking.

     Yes, you CAN change it.  Yes, you CAN have a more successful business. Yes, you CAN start to get yourself to eat better without having to wait for your birthday or a New Year’s Resolution. All you have to do is make the choice. It’s really that simple. If you think it’s too hard, choose for it to not be hard. All behavior –let me say that again– ALL BEHAVIOR is a choice!

     Why make choices  that will make you and your business suffer? Besides, your better eating choices will make you and your business healthier, and that will increase the odds you return to this site again looking for more “food for thought”… and your return visits will make me very happy. (So, okay, do it for me then.) Happy better-eating-choices weekend!   

# # # 

I, Me, My, We, and Our

Lose To You and Your!

     Unless by some miracle,  you’ve managed to uncover an exception, I believe it’s safe to say that You and Your win 100% of the time!

    So howcum  the vast majority (MUCH more than 50%) of small business advertising and marketing consistently takes the loser position of emphasizing I, Me, My, We, and Our? 

     The answer no doubt  has to do with the fact that entrepreneurs tend to be more self-centered than corporate types, and may lack certain psychological-impact-of-word-usage awarenesses. That tendency is not necessarily a bad thing, it simply is.

     Most entrepreneurs  probably skipped through, over, or around English, creative writing, and psychology coursework in school as they marched to different drummers on paths less traveled to innovate and create and pursue their business ideas. 

     The only problem  with this is that when small businesses beat their chests and tell everyone how great they are and why they’re better than their competition: NOBODY CARES!

     Let’s put the fact that you own  and/or operate or manage a business off to the side burner for a minute, and examine this paradox from your own personal perspective. Surely, YOU purchase products and services for yourself and your family and your business because you believe there are benefits in what you choose for yourself and your family and your business.

     So why would you think  that what you have to sell would be any different? Why would you think that others would spend their money on your products or services for any reason other than that they believe them to offer,have, or promise a benefit to them?

Customers really don’t

                                          

care about how great

                                             

you think you are! 

                                                                                          

     So why does the wording you use  in your brochure, on your website, and in yours ads and commercials emphasize your reputation, your company history, your mission and vision statements? Credibility can be worded to be a benefit instead of a boast. Why does what you say focus on ANYthing besides what the benefits are?

     Cars, parts, appliances, homes, vegetables,  personal and professional services, healthcare, boots, lightbulbs, newspapers, cruise ships, circus acts, roofing and flooring, ice cream, software, fish, septic systems (which may require upgrading if you eat too much ice cream and fish together!)

     Nobody gives a flying frog  about the features of any of these, or any products or services, except tp be able to tick off a bullet list to impress friends, justify expense, or appease parents or bosses. Customers ONLY care about what’s in it for them (to purchase your offerings). What specific benefits will someone gain by buying your product or service?

     This all translates to  removing I, Me, My, We, and Our from your marketing, advertising, sales, PR, and promotional language. Replace them (and the emphasis) with You and Your. Watch your sales rise.

# # #

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Hal@Businessworks.US     302.933.0116

Open  Minds  Open   Doors

Many thanks for your visit and God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Doctors were never intended

to be businesspeople.

     Doctors teach  us every day how NOT to run a business. They are over-stressed, under-nourished, over their heads financially, and under the radar of best business practices. Sure there are exceptions. There are exceptions in every field of endeavor.

     But after 25 years  of working as a practice development business consultant and a personal and professional growth and development counselor to physicians and healthcare executives, I know whereof I speak.

     More than half  of the thousand-plus doctors I have known and worked with never wanted to be doctors in the first place. Many were pushed into it by well-intentioned parents who saw only the media-glorified healer earning big bucks… parents who pulled their buggy whips out of storage.

     I don’t know any longer,  but only a few short years ago, the average doctor only lived to be 58 years old. The stress of the work is literally inhuman. Medical schools and training, like military boot camps, breed and cultivate stress. Some good reasons, but mostly not.

     Ridiculous nonstop work shifts  that can only be maintained with easy-access sugar snacks and self-prescribed amphetamines carry over into reality as doctors face the need to juggle (and drum up) patients and referrals, manage staffs and offices or facilities, run businesses, comply with insurance dictates and every type of regulation imaginable, then cope with malpractice issues… oh, right, and maybe even have families. No thanks.

     Yeah, but think of the money.  I know of surgeons who take home close to two million dollars a year after taxes. Without exception, they are physical wrecks, with severely fractured family lives, if any, and have forgotten to laugh… and pray… and eat right… and sleep right… and exercise… and be happy!

     Many drink too much  or pop too many pills or live like zombies. So, yeah, think of the money.

     The bottom line is  that we need to give doctors a break. They don’t have any inventory to sell, or staff who can step up to let them take time off to rest or vacation more than a few days. They are devoted to delivering care to patients but won’t get paid by insurance companies if they spend too many minutes with each patient.

     Oh, and the insurance companies  often don’t pay the doctor until many months after patient care is delivered, and even then it’s typically a nightmare trying to collect what’s owed. Healthcare screw-ups are not because of doctors.

     And healthcare screw-ups  will NOT be solved by any kind of universal federal government mandates. A competitive business arena must exist if healthcare is in fact ever to be viable and available to all. And physicians must be allowed to be an integral part of the process. They deserve the opportunity to deliver quality care without politician interference. 

# # # 

Yesterday’s Customers

Bring Business Today!

     It’s a proven fact: Your BEST source of business is existing and past business!

     So, when the time comes,  if it hasn’t already, to put your shoulder to the wheel, stop working and have a party! No one ever told you that entrepreneurship is all about being spontaneous?

     Really! Stop what you’re doing  and have a Customer Appreciation Party. So what if it’s a last-minute deal? So what if you’re down to your last few nickles? Buy some cheap wine and cheese and make some decorations. Invite your not paid up-to-date lawyer and accountant. Tell them they can be their sharky opportunistic selves and use the gathering to network their own services.

     It matters not  that you run a retail or wholesale operation or a professional practice or service office, or turkey farm or pistol range (okay, well I’ll grant you that maybe it’s not a great thing to have a party at a pistol range) … or whether you have 100 employees or you’re a one-man-band … or whether you operate out of a fancy building, or your basement! 

     You simply call all your best customers  a couple or seven days ahead and tell them to come as they are and to bring friends, family and co-workers and stop in at 5 or 6 o’clock to have an Oktoberfest (or a “Celebrate The Economy”) drink (or 8AM for coffee and donuts! Be sure to invite local police!) and give you the chance to shake hands and say a personal thank you to each.

     Put on some music.  Lower the lights. Get Aunt Jabib to fix a tray of those old lady sandwiches. Pick up a bucket of pretzels. Give out special discount coupons (or even better:  handwritten “20% off until October 20″ on the back of your business cards, which you dole out with each handshake).

WHY? Here’s Why:

     You will get more business  from this impromptu gathering than you will from expensive advertising because you are PERSONALLY interacting with each person, and showing your humble appreciation for the value of their business in a PERSONAL way.

     Don’t believe me?  So go back to work and forget it; what do I care?

     BUT IF YOU DO THIS DEAL,  you’d better invite me as well. Besides I’m a cheap date; I’ll just slink into a corner with a glass of wine and dream up my next blog post! Happy Customer Celebrating!

[P.S. If not enough can make it, have it anyway, and then do it again for those who missed the first one!]

# # # 

Cultivating leadership

below?

What’s happening

above?

“Leadership is not just telling people what you want… it is getting people to do what you need them to do.”

— JON ALTERMAN, Senior Fellow, Center for Strategic & International Studies

     I’ve often told the story  that’s now regarded as classic leadership style about (Pre-U.S. President) General Dwight David Eisenhower, during WWII, when he was addressing a group of his officers at a makeshift table on the battlefield with a piece of string.

     He first pushed the string  across the table with thumb and forefinger and demonstrated the end result being a tangle. Next he took the end of the string between the same two fingers and shook it a bit before gently pulling it, demonstrating the straight-line formation of the string… and made his point clearly that troops who were pulled by their leader would perform better than those the leader pushed.

     Are you pulling or pushing?

     You own or manage a business  and are solely responsible for motivating your troops. You set the example. If you are pushing people, others below you are pushing people. Pushed people get resentful and become uncooperative.

     If you are stepping out onto the front lines  and pulling others along, you will be more likely to gain and retain the respect and loyalty of those below you who you are pulling. They will believe in you and trust you and follow you.

     This thinking and approach  is as critical at the very top levels of federal and state and local government as it is in multinational corporations and in Mom & Pop retail stores. Small business is not immune from Eisenhower-style leadership. In fact, it’s the place to ignite the kinds of larger, global applications that will eventually bolster world economy.

     I know, you’re more worried about your family right now,  right?. Then start focusing more on “getting people to do what you need them to do” by pulling instead of pushing.

     It matters not  that you sell pizza, luxury automobiles, chickens, well-drilling, website designs, media advertising, crabs, healthcare services, insurance, pickles, legal services, clothing, or real estate.

What matters is that you keep working every single day at making your leadership style better because the solidity of your customer base is only as good as the day-to-day performance of your employees, and your employee performance is only as good as the constant attention you give to the kind of leadership you provide.

Your leadership speaks of your integrity.

Your integrity is your brand!  

# # #

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Hal@Businessworks.US    302.933.0116

Open  Minds  Open  Doors

Many thanks for your visit and God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!