Is your self-fulfilling prophesy

destroying your business?

• “Harry, you look terrible. How do you feel?”
• “Oooooooh, terrrrrrible.”
• “Terrible, huh? That’s too bad. How’s business?
• “Oooooooh, terrrrrrible.”

~~~~~~~~

• “Hey, Marian, what’s up?”
• “Not much. What’s up with you?”
• “I just saw Harry.”
• “Oh, and how is he?”
• “He’s terrible.”
• “Really? That’s a shame. I thought he was doing okay. In fact I was just on my way to him to put in a big order, but maybe I shouldn’t be doing business with him anymore. If he’s as terrible as you say, and he’s not doing well, then he’s not selling much, and his inventory must be getting awfully stale.”
• “Oh, I’m not sure about his inventory, but he looked terrible, and when I asked how he was, he said ‘terrible.’
• “Yeah, well that’s enough for me. I can just as easily deal with George down the street. He doesn’t seem to have many customers, but he always says that things are terrific, and he always acts bright and cheerful. I have to believe his products are always fresh.”

~~~~~~~~

     Have you looked  in a mirror lately? I mean REALLY looked? Have you tape-recorded and listened to yourself talking to customers (employees, vendors, anyone?) on a recent phone call? Are you choosing for the lousy economy to creep into how you represent yourself and your business to others? 

     Do you know — beyond any shadow of doubt — that you are consistently projecting the power of positive thinking? Does your voice and do your posture and facial expressions exude enthusiasm? All the time? Uh, ALL the time? A~L~L the time?

     Do you think you can  just put on an act from 9 to 5, or just on Thursdays? Is your brain programmed to think “TGIF” every Friday morning, and then slow to a standstill by noon, getting ready for the weekend?

     Do you still think of Wednesday  as the “hump” day to get past so you have a clear path to TGIF? Do you own or run a business? Maybe you should read this post one more time. Have a great TGIM week starting Monday (or even start a little today?)

     Oh, and guess what the fringe benefit is?  Besides that you’ll increase sales:  You’ll feel happier and be healthier! It’s a proven fact that forcing yourself to project a positive attitude consistently, even when you don’t feel positive, will end up turning upsetting negatives into positives and make you happier and healthier. What have you got to lose?

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You’ll always get what you want

if you help enough other people

to get what they want!

— ZIG ZIGLAR, Motivational Guru and Sales Trainer

     You know, a lot of business people  still have trouble digesting this idea. It’s easy to see why a small business owner who’s struggled to pull together enough of a business and personal life to make a go of it, can feel threatened by the loss of time, money, and energy that it takes to lend others a hand.

     Especially  strangers.

     I mean it’s one thing  to pull your needy in-laws up by the bootstraps, and quite another to give up an hour or two of valuable work time to meet with someone who calls you from out of the Yellow Pages, who has no money to pay for your products or services, and offers no promise of networking connections, but who seeks guidance and advice.

     “Let ’em go to a guidance counselor!”  I’ve actually heard more than a few entrepreneurial types say. “I’ve got no time to waste with some low-life looking for a free ride. Whadda I look like, a community college business department?”

     Now, I’m NOT suggesting  that business owners and managers throw open their doors to every gutter-crawling illegal immigrant welfare recipient drug addict out there and suddenly offer free products, services, and career counseling. There are caregiver organizations that already exist that provide these essentials.

     But don’t hang up or slam your door  on someone who’s sincerely interested in getting your help, who happens to be down and out. Because why? Because there but for the grace of God, it could be you. Because everyone deserves a break. Because EVERY one is fighting some kind of battle. And who are you to judge?

     Stories about the magic  of helping others are written every minute of every day, but we’ll never hear about these good and inspiring happenings because mainstream media doesn’t want us to think positive.

     Mainstream media sells more advertising  by focusing news reports on trivia like who has what right to tell the President the truth, or what some Hollywood buffoon thinks about cap and trade or our healthcare system.

     Mainstream media wants your mind  dwelling on what horrible torture is delivered to some child or domestic animal, or who died in what terrible accident. So what’s bad, ends up squashing what’s good. And — from childhood — we get brainwashed about that.    

     But, you know what?  That’s not an excuse for not reaching a genuine helping hand out to others. Just because the media is invested in sensationalizing and editorializing, doesn’t justify buying into their onslaught of negativity any more than bad toilet training as a baby justifies murder as an adult.

     The point is that it’s a choice.  All behavior is a choice. And you know what else? Choosing to help someone in need will give YOU a better sense of self-worth, which translates to self-esteem, and which — by the way, for the benefit of those more hard-nosed business folks among us — translates to self-confidence, which (ah) just so happens to often translate to sales. Hmmmm.

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Perceptions Sell and

Perceptions UNsell!

What you perceive is what you believe… and what you believe is FACT, even when it’s not!

     It makes a big difference  how you, for example, define a traffic jam depending on your frame of reference. If you’re from LA, the Bronx, the DC Beltway, or Gumboro in Southern Delaware, the New Jersey Pine Barrens, or Rangeley in NW Maine, what you perceive can vary from endless seas of hornblowing standstill cars, to a pickup truck and two motorcycles waiting for a freight train.

     Perception is selective  and varies every minute of every day. You walk into a party and immediately scope the gathering to find a hot-looking member of the opposite sex who’s serving up inviting looking eyes because you are single and on the hunt. The next party-goer enters and immediately seeks the bar, looking to unwind with a free drink. The artist who comes in the door looks past all the people, and the bar, to find the wall where her painting is hung. And so it goes.

     Selective perception  is also what customers exercise when they are sizing up a product, service, showroom, salesperson, commercial, ad, brochure, warranty, or website. You are using selective perception right this minute by having read this far into this blog post. 

     So a good part of the challenge  for your marketing is to capture prospects’ perceptions and imaginations by properly setting the stage. This — as with any stage — is accomplished with colors, props, backdrops, lighting, spatial arrangements, sounds, and often smells and touch… activating the five senses.

     And isn’t channeling selective perception  what the bombardment of opinion forms, attitude surveys, customer questionnaires, R&D studies, media ratings, and focus groups are all about? In order to make a sale, we need to understand what makes our customers tick.

     This is accomplished  most thoroughly and most rapidly by first finding out and figuring out what makes each of us, as business owners and managers, and entrepreneurs, tick! Once you have a better idea of what turns on your attention, your desires, your interests, and prompts you to action, you’ll have a better idea of how to ignite your customers.

Why does that matter?

Because perceptions sell, and perceptions UNsell! 

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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!

Exceptionally Rewarding?

OR Extremely Frustrating?

     Common to most volunteer groups  I’ve experienced as a management consultant and trainer is that they bite off more than they can chew! Goals are generally vague and too all-encompassing, which creates feelings of frustration, prompts rapid turnover, and frequently results in failure.

     Remember that group goal structures  and criteria are no different than the ones I’ve discussed here for individuals. http://bit.ly/aaCJpz     http://bit.ly/ay6N2C   are two good examples worth checking] 

     For a goal to be a genuine goal  and not a “wishlist” item, you’ll find at the above links — among other points — that a goal must be specific, realistic, flexible, and have a due date, and it must adhere to all 4 criteria. You may want to re-read the last sentence. It contains the guts of establishing goals that work for individuals as well as groups, and it’s worth giving some thought to each of the 4 criteria.

     Why are meaningful goals  particularly important in working with volunteers. Because achievement leads to feelings of success, and feelings of success are the ONLY attributes that can sustain and justify volunteer effort. 

All other problem solutions mean little unless (volunteer group) members feel that they are progressing toward an achievable goal.

     According to  the training profession benchmark University Associates Editors Jones and Pfeiffer in one of their classic  Annual Handbooks for Group Facilitators, “All other problem solutions mean little unless (volunteer group) members feel that they are progressing toward an achievable goal.”

     One way to accomplish the task  of setting realistic objectives — based on consensus and group decision-making methods — “is for volunteers to set aside a block of time to devote totally to planning,” say Jones and Pfeiffer.

     Volunteer groups,  the much-acclaimed editing team experts go on to say, also need to establish meaningful and appropriate contracts between group members and the organization. And these contracts need to spell out what each individual can and will do.

     To function at a high performance level,  volunteers should also have regularly-scheduled group meetings, individual written job descriptions, and a permanent agenda item of “Are we meeting our job descriptions and how should they be upgraded as we go forward?”

     Leadership and accountability  require designation of project leaders and a volunteer coordinator, plus a “buddy system” orientation arrangement for introducing new group members. Rewards (e.g., expense grants, certificates, academic credits, extra training opportunities, news release coverage, commendation letters), and attention to the process that evolves are all critical ingredients in making volunteer group leadership work.    

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Analytical

BELONGS TO SCIENCE AND BUSINESS

Kidding

BELONGS TO GOATS

Teasing

BELONGS TO HAIR

Wired

BELONGS TO ELECTRICIANS

Criticism

BELONGS TO THEATREGOERS

Judgements

BELONG TO COURTROOMS

Pushiness

BELONGS TO BULLDOZERS

Lecturing

BELONGS TO CLASSROOMS

Crowding

BELONGS TO SUBWAYS AND SARDINES

Got some thought-provoking additions? Share what you can. They belong to everyone! 

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Leaders who fail this

exercise fail as leaders

     As the leader  of your organization, department, division, constituency, team, troop, household, office, clinic, crew, institution, property, building, club, store, or factory, you have and will form a number of prejudices in your lifetime.

I can tell you  that these feelings are your choice and you should choose something else, but it won’t make a difference. If you truly intensely dislike some segment of society, odds are the feelings are so deeply rooted that a BandAid isn’t going to heal the gaping wound.

     You CAN,  however, take some time (and, yes, it is worth it) to examine more carefully what it is exactly that tips your scale into tiltsville. At least you will have narrowed down the ugly feelings enough to have the good sense to know when to walk away from a potentially volatile situation, vs. setting yourself and others up for an explosion.

     First of all,  and this is important, remember that you need not like somebody to do business with her or him. Of course it’s nice to enjoy a customer or prospect’s company because it makes the sales process (Oh, yes, leadership IS sales, because leading IS persuading, right? But you know that of course!) more pleasant.

     But, you know what?  For some peculiar reason I’ve never figuired out, odds are that the biggest and most important leadership (sales) accomplishments have occurred with people who you are not particularly fond of. So…

Half the battle is knowing what prompts you to think the way that you think before the circumstances arise that prompt you to think that way!

Can you look in the mirror and give yourself honest

one-word judgments/assessments of these 46 types:

Men? Old men? Young men? Middle-aged men? Women? Old women? Young women? Middle-aged women? Children? Infants? Toddlers? Adolescents? Teenagers? Black people? White people? Blondes? Brunettes? Redheads? Bald-headed people? People with wigs? Toupees? Beards? Mustaches? Tattoos? Face piercings? Tongue piercings? Pierced Ears? Indians? Pakistanis? Mexicans? Frenchmen? Muslims? Jews? Irishmen? Asians? Fast talkers? Slow talkers? People who don’t look you in the eye? People with bone-crusher handshakes? People with fish fillet handshakes? Rednecks? City slickers? Tree huggers? Overweight people? Underweight people? Handicapped people? Athletes?   

     Here’s my best guess on scoring: 

• If you dislike/distrust more than 10,  you have a problem that you should confront and deal with because it’s keeping you from being successful in your leadership role.
• If you dislike/distrust more than 20,  you’ll be happier as a hermit than as a leader. Cash in your assets and head for a cave.
• If you dislike/distrust more than 30,  please run, don’t walk, to the nearest psychotherapist and beg for help (and until you get help, keep yourself locked up at home watching Animal Channel)!  
• Ah,  did we raise some consciousness here? Good! Happy Week! 

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Your Small Business

Management Methods 

Getting Stale? Try This.

     It’s already September.  If your business is going to survive the year, you’d better get on the stick! Counting holidays, you’ve only got about 70 business days left in the year! Now is the time to hustle your butt! With Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Jewish holiday slowdown periods thrown in, you’re looking at super crunch time.

     This impending brain drain  is only going to be worse if you’re starting to feel like the economy has clobbered you into la-la land (and you don’t even live near Los Angeles!), and you and your business are getting stale.

     You’re trying? BS!  Stop trying and DO something about it! Hold a garage sale! You will get such a rude awakening by forcing yourself (and neighbors, if you’re the energetic type) to face up to the realities a garage sale produces:

• agreeing  with yourself to let go of prized possessions for a fraction of the prices you paid

• collecting  all these items together from every corner of your home

• pricing  and labeling each item

• picking  appropriate hours, obtaining necessary permits, and scheduling your life accordingly

• promoting  and advertising with posters, local newspaper ads, flyers and signs

• moving  your complete inventory into your driveway or yard or garage 

• making  sure you have enough change and single dollar bills on hand     

• displaying  your inventory in the most appealing manner (and, heartily recommended, writing an informative or enticing headline for each major piece you offer for sale

• dealing  with garage sale “professionals” who will come knocking at your door 30-60 minutes before your announced time — an interruption you can count on even if you advertise 6am; they’ll show up with flashlights; set your coffeemaker for 4:30am

• smiling  and greeting every visitor like a long lost cousin without being too pushy or too salesy

• moving  and rearranging items to keep most enticing-looking items up front and to keep table surfaces constantly filled

• accepting  that some people will rip you off by short-changing you and/or by outright stealing stuff when your back is turned — and that it’s generally best to bite the bullet and ignore these incidents by reminding yourself how desperate or deranged an individual has to be to be trying to make off with an extra dollar and a quarter’s worth of junk

• returning  unpurchased merchandise without feeling rejected

• inventorying  your sore feet and back, as you count up your meager profits

     If this experience  doesn’t turn you and your business attitude into a fresh new direction overnight, I’d be astonished. The experience of being the whole business and making all decisions and responding instantly and keeping positive customer relations as you make sales, is enlightening to say the least.

     The awareness’s  and perspectives you gain will shed new light on your business and freshen up the approach you’re taking to make the rest of this year work FOR you! 

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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! 

When you give people the

benefit of doubt, they’ll take it!

     If it’s leadership  you seek to provide and succeed with, DO NOT give people “the benefit of doubt”! Just don’t! I think that 99 times out of 100, you’ll be sorry! You’re in sales, or you own your own business, or manage a business or major part of a business… all, one in the same; all require you to be selling something all day every day!

     When you give someone  — a customer, a prospect, an employee, a vendor, a referrer, an investor — the benefit of doubt, she or he will take it. And what creek does that leave you up without a paddle? Why set yourself up for reaping non-performance?

     Isn’t it like having someone  with a poor track-record for reliability telling you the check is in the mail? What’s the worst that can happen by you being an assertive non-believer? You end up making a wrong judgment about some one’s behavior? Then apologize and get on with life.

     It happens every day.  Life is too short to wallow in having made a bad judgment call. On the other hand, by calling the other person’s hand (politely of course; nowhere here am I even suggesting a demanding or arrogant or feisty or pushy or aggressive tone; nowhere!), you will simply be jogging a slow responder.

     My best totally non-cynical guess,  by the way, is that slow responder is a term that probably describes a minimum of half the people on the planet. And many of these folks will actually be grateful for the little prod. So stop annoying yourself with thoughts that you may be annoying to others.

     Your job  is to get your job done, right? And hopefully it’s to accomplish that task in the most respectful and considerate manner possible. But maybe it’s time to examine whether you are in fact getting your just reward, getting what you’re entitled to, and getting your due in a timely fashion.

     I’m not just talking about collecting payments here.  Decision-making delays are at least as big, if not bigger, of a culprit to contend with. It doesn’t take long for a sales pro to learn that “maybe” is the worst possible response to get from a prospect or customer. “No” means you can cut the line and let the customer or prospect drift out to see with a smile and wave.

     “Maybe” means now you have to hang on  to making repeated efforts at repeated expense with repeated energy and still only have 50-50 odds of success. People who say “maybe” or tell you to “call back” next week, next month, next year, are, in my opinion, time-wasters 99% of the time!

     They do not deserve the benefit of doubt.

     And if you give it to them,  repeatedly, you may be looking at some pretty miserable odds for ulcers and business failure. I once had a very successful and highly respected sales manager who kept this sign over his desk:

BE NICE. BE FIRM. BE DIRECT. BE UNDERSTANDING.

LISTEN. BUT DON’T GIVE OR TAKE ANY CRAP!

GET (AND VALUE!) A “YES” OR “NO”!  

# # #  

I was down, but now I’m up,

cause the book is out . . .

and the book came in!

     And it’s even better than I imagined.  I couldn’t be more pleased than to be in the company of such warm-hearted and talented authors as are represented in the new Nightengale Press book THE ART OF GRANDPARENTING.

     It’s a terrific collection  of essays and short stories. Included is an engaging short story I’ve written about a Grandpa’s visit from his Granddaughter. You have  been hearing my horn toots for weeks on end, and the book is now officially born. If you’ve ever even thought about grandparenting, this collection will charm the socks off of you.

     If you are a grandparent,  or have a grandparent, or are about to become a grandparent, or are on the cusp of making someone a grandparent (!), get this book. It is  warm, witty, enlightening, laughable and provocative. It is all about grandparenting in today’s life, about not tsk-tsking kids for text messaging, but knowing what “txtmsging” means (along with LOL and W8 and <3 and ;<).

     It’s about the challenging,  undefined, and ever-changing role of providing value systems, camaraderie, spiritual support, encouragement and challenge without overstepping bounds or compromising parental control, without risking parental jealousy or being an annoyance. It’s about walking a thin line of leadership influence and letting your presence (note, not presents!) do the talking.  

     Am I excited about this? Does a baby need a diaper change? Sunday (9/13) is Grandparent’s Day. There couldn’t be a nicer way to express appreciation or honor a grandparent you know —anytime from Sunday, forward— with a copy of this refreshing new book. [Ordering details below]

     We’ll get back to business as usual  (if there is such a thing) tomorrow. Right now, I’m happily signing the first shipment of forty sold copies, while looking forward to sending one your way soon.

# # #  

Consultant: person

from 100 miles away

with a BlackBerry and laptop.

You better believe it  that clients give more respect to consultants from “out of town.” Besides that the out-of-town guy’s perspective is “totally fresh,” clients love to talk about the fact that they have a consultant who’s “totally hosing” them!

Why?  Who knows? And who cares? How to UN-do this unrealistic, warped mindset is what really matters. The best consultants are those who get the job done on schedule, pleasantly and reasonably.

And, by the way,  EVERY client loves consultants who are willing to work on a partial performance incentive basis! Hey, why not? Prove yourself. If you’re so sure you can solve the problem, you should be willing to bet part of your compensation on it, and of course charge more … especially where sales or savings commissions are possible! You can be fairly certain the out-of-town guy won’t do that.

First of all,  if you’re serious about wanting to do consulting work of any kind — regardless of your expertise — start with and communicate confidence (not cockiness!) by recognizing that you know more about the subject than any client, or your services wouldn’t be required.

Second,  roll up your sleeves and get to work being a consultant before you’re even hired to be a consultant. Show the client how you function be getting right to the heart of things. Take any minor issue raised in a discussion and ask questions. Listen carefully. Analyze and make recommendations. Do it in a relaxed manner.

And stop worrying  about giving away your expertise by solving problems that you’re not asked to solve and that you’re not being paid for yet. If you think you can do it, do it!

Avoid getting tangled up  in contracts, long-term agreements, petty lawyer-style compensation terms (Do you want to pay someone by the quarter hour for reading your email or letter or for listening to your phone call that outlines the basic logistics of what the working arrangements will be?) Like NIKE says, Just Do It!

If repeat business and referrals  are important to you (duh!), then focus on getting the job done, instead of telling how great you are. Track-records don’t produce sales unless you’re a major name athlete. Ongoing demonstrations of knowledge and know-how, and resources, and ability to communicate clearly will land the assignment AND solve the client’s problem.

When I started as a consultant,  I hired a consultant to “sit in” as my “assistant” and then later badger me with devil’s advocate questions to force me to stay tuned in and come to terms with my own problem-solving and communication skills. It was worth every penny! (Uh, you DO remember what a “penny” is?)

Bottom line:  There’s NOTHING can compare to working for yourself! If you’re out of work, have special knowledge and skill, have integrity, communications skills, and confidence … stop making excuses and go for it. You don’t need a BlackBerry and laptop. Just start with a phone, email capability, business cards, and determination!

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