Get on the road to recovery!

“I hate sales! I’m no good at sales!”

     In just a couple of weeks,  I’ve heard “sales hater” exclamations like these  from a doctor, a new college grad looking for a job, a retailer, an accountant, a business owner, and (of course) a shrink! Each really believed in achieving success without ever having to sell!

     Well, I suppose anything’s possible,  especially with a little help from Tinker Bell!

     Consider this  (Yes it’s based on years of communications research, but it IS just my opinion):

EVERY TIME YOU OPEN YOUR MOUTH

(AND MOST TIMES WHEN YOU DON’T),

YOU ARE ENGAGED IN THE ACT OF SELLING! 

     Okay, you’re running for the phone to call that shrink  I mentioned. Well, before you dial 911, think about this statement…

Sorry to disrupt the fantasyland balance of your life in denial,  but reality is that we wouldn’t be able to survive as human beings very long if we weren’t actively PERSUADING or trying to PERSUADE others, or someone… or some creature.

     What’s all this persuasion about?  It’s called living life. We do it every minute of every day in one form or another. How many times today would you guess you already persuaded someone to do something (including watching, listening, touching, tasting, smelling)?

     Did you convince someone else  to say something today (including verbally, nonverbally, with music… ah, or flowers!)? 

     Because of you, was someone today persuaded to believe, think, consider, evaluate, choose, or respond to something? Of course the answer is “YES” to all of these questions. If it’s not, re-think this, and be honest with yourself. I mean no one would serve you or even sell you food if you were one of Steven King’s zombies.

     So we are constantly engaged in sales  all day every day whether we like it or not, whether we believe it or not, whether we think we’re good at it or not. It’s here. It’s now. And we’re doing it.

     Sooooo… how about  accepting it and accepting the value of actively choosing to make ourselves better at it? If we have to live with it, maybe it would make life easier if we strive to master it?

     You know the best part?  It IS a choice, and it’s really a lot of fun to figure out what others want and help them to get it (a key attitude of successful selling that spins around “listening to the customer”!). Sales professionals listen 80% of the time and talk 20%. Do you?                                                                                                                                   

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“Oh, My! You’ve Gotten So Big!”

     Remember hearing this every Thanksgiving  while you were growing up? The proclamation was typically accompanied by a hand on top of your head or shoulder?

     Ah, yes, and it usually came from some ignorant,  but maybe well-intentioned adult member of your dysfunctional family? Some aunt or uncle you only ever saw once a year gorging herself or himself on the annual turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce banquet?

     Well, that was good training. Now you own and run or manage a business.  The likelihood is great indeed that you still see signs of ignorance in your family, and that it has — VOILA! — remained a dysfunctional entity!

     But odds are those growing-up days  dished out more suffering than you recall. Insecurity. Anxiety. Disproportionate thrusts of physical and emotional change. Hatred of all people older than 23.

     When did you last travel with a fourteen year-old?  You look at one a little crooked, and odds are you’ll be rewarded with a convulsive shudder followed by a flood of tears. He or she’s worried about which sweater to wear or iPod tune to buy and you’re trying to resolve travel delays. It’s a communications lock-down and some one’s going to end up angry.

     How did you handle it then?  Somehow you got through it all because here you are reading this post. What about now? Has your business reached puberty? Is it still in adolescence? Is it caught in the middle somewhere?

     Do you find yourself gulping, clenching your teeth and scratching  your head more that the startup years when there wasn’t even time to eat, never-mind scratch? Do you hate when people talk about how much your business has grown when in your heart you know you’re stuck in mud and hoping it’s not quicksand?

     Well, then, give your business a shot of “Adult.”  Stop thinking small and defeated. Stop acting small and defeated. Stop resenting outsiders sizing up your venture. Stop choosing to accept your circumstances. START choosing to change your circumstances. 

YOU DO NOT NEED TO CHOOSE TO SETTLE FOR ANYTHING.

     Some after-hours places to start:

• Run your disk defragment and anti-virus programs (uh, not at the same time)!
• Clean out your old email files, old databases, old business card collections!
• Clean out your supply cabinet (and discover what’s been over and under ordered)!
• Develop 3 new challenges for each employee and plan a group briefing!
• Explain your business to a five year-old and to an 80 year-old, then listen!   
• Check out work spaces – are they getting cluttered? Sloppy? Dirty? Lighting?

     Add your own. A quick monthly take on these “inventory” items will help your business grow up faster and with less damage than most humans experience! What have you got to lose? What have you got to lose if you stay stuck in mud another few years?

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Got Good Advice?

     If you’re putting all your business eggs  in one consultant or one consulting group basket, don’t give your business long to live! It may be time to remind yourself that your business is your baby, that you’ve worked hard to get it up and on its feet, and toddling forward. Sure it will fall on its face a few times, but YOU are the only one who can get it back on track.

     When you hire a consultant or consulting firm  and expect her/him/it to get all your ducks in a row, you’re headed for Disneyland! And given the kinds of fees being charged these days, you may also be on your way to the poorhouse.

     It’s an age-old proven fact  that the best solution to ANY organizational problem lies WITHIN the organization. The challenge therefore is HOW to draw it out, not to decide on what consultant to hire to analyze it to death and make recommendations you don’t need!

     Except for highly technical consultants, no consultant (inside OR outside) can waltz in  and pinpoint a management or organizational solution direction for you to follow. My best guess is that that person or “team” will be wrong more than 99% of the time. Why?

IF YOU’RE NOT PART OF THE PROBLEM,

YOU CAN’T BE PART OF THE SOLUTION

BECAUSE YOU’LL NEVER FULLY GRASP THE PROCESS!

     You own or run or manage the company  and that means YOU are the only one who can understand and guide the unique solution process as it exists in your unique organization. The ball’s in your court. You can get consulting HELP, but in the end it will always have to be your solution and your decision.

     Soooooooooo — why do you want to pay  for one support entity when you can have 5 or 7 (odd number recommended) support entities helping you FOR FREE? Huh? The best consulting help you can engage will be to help you engage an advisory board that can help steer your ship while you sleep or visit the head!

     You will probably also do this task better by yourself,  but — in starting an advisory board — objective, outside input can be valuable. Start with people you trust who you know agree with the general growth directions you plan, and who are willing to commit time and energy. They need not agree with you on the details of how to get there, but that’s okay.

     Reward them  by serving food and snacks at meetings; give them free samples of products and/or allow them “family” discounts on services. Treat them special. Require confidentiality but be 100% honest with them, and cultivate a high trust level with each. Keep them informed of both good and bad news.

     Call them together quarterly, monthly when needed. Don’t ever waste their time. Always have pre-circulated agendas of problem-solution issues and bring key employees in to present the details. Stick to the agendas. Give out assignments. Have goals of leaving meetings with solutions. Work it.

     Yes, it’s work,  but you’ll get better input, free, from people who feel they have a stake in the contributions they make, and whose input wins your respect. They will also end up being your best salespeople!

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If Jesus Christ

runs your business 

 . . . look before you leap!

     If you believe Jesus runs your business,  God Bless You, but be careful about how you represent yourself. It’s probably a fair estimate to say that a good deal more than half the world could care less about your religious persuasion as a business owner or manager.

     It’s probably also a fair estimate to say  that in most parts of the United States, and especially the major cities, there is even a pointed resistance — and even an antagonistic and spiteful attitude — toward religious (Christian) based businesses.

     Reality: Many non-believers are threatened.  Many dismiss you condescendingly as “just another Jesus Freak.” Many will go out of their way to not do business with you. Some will try to undermine your business efforts.

     That doesn’t mean you should give it up.  It does mean you should be careful. It means you and your spirituality will be best served by exercising Christian values in everything you do and every encounter you have without necessarily advertising them.

     All the time?  No. There are some times and places–and many ways–where it’s appropriate to publicize your beliefs where it won’t cost you business or relationships. You may not like having to “hold your tongue” but reality dictates that it’s sometimes best for your self and your business to not be making public proclamations about your religious orientations. As for ways to do it, HOW you say what you say is the key.

     Certainly, Jesus would advise  tolerance when confronted with contentiousness? Remember that the bottom line is if you believe you and your business are serving Jesus, you will best serve by passive accommodation: i.e., a “customer is always right” focus, which of course works for EVERY business.

     If your business is a local or regional one  that is located in a heavily Christian community, then you can be much freer in expressing your interests and affiliations than in a geographical area not as uniformly receptive to your mission.

     Of course you can be a rebel-rouser  and charge into the marketplace brandishing a religious banner, but you will be risking the prospective success of what your business existence is all about.

     Is closing up shop  worth you having made a lot of noise about the principles your business is founded on? Remember: When your doors close, so does your ability to contribute!

# # #

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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! 

Healthcare Dictatorship?

In this week’s Wall Street Journal,  former NY State Lt. Governor Betsy McCaughey brought to light some of the small business-impact details buried in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s 1,990-page health bill (H.R.3962) that you need to know about:

The government will require

EVERYone to:

     • Enroll in a “QUALIFIED PLAN.”  Sec. 202 (p. 91-92) of the bill requires that if you get your insurance at work, employers will have a “grace period” to switch you to a “QUALIFIED PLAN,” meaning a plan designed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. If you buy your own insurance, there’s no grace period. You’ll have to enroll in a qualified plan as soon as any term in your contract changes, such as the co-pay, deductible or benefit.

     • Be legally required to pay  whatever the Secretary of Health and Human Services decides what a “QUALIFIED PLAN” covers and what your fees will be. Sec. 224 (p. 118) provides that you will be told an amount 18 months after the bill becomes law. That,” says Ms. McCaughey, is like a banker telling you to sign the loan agreement now, then filling in the interest rate and repayment terms 18 months later.

On 11/2/09, the Congressional Budget Office estimated an individual earning $44,000 before taxes who purchases his own insurance will have to pay a $5,300 premium and $2,000 in out-of-pocket expenses: total $7,300 a year, which is 17% of his pre-tax income. A family earning $102,100 a year before taxes will have to pay a $15,000 premium plus $5,300 out-of-pocket: $20,300 total, or 20% of its pre-tax income. Individuals and families earning less will be eligible for subsidies paid direct to  insurers.

     • Adhere to a “one-size-fits-all” QUALIFIED PLAN  even though it doesn’t exist. See Sec. 303 (pp. 167-168) The bill claims to offer choice—basic, enhanced and premium levels—but benefits are the same. Only co-pays and deductibles differ. You will have to enroll in the same plan, whether the government is paying for it or you or your employer are.

     • Include proof in your taxes that you are in a QUALIFIED PLAN.  Sec. 59b (pp. 297-299) If you don’t, you will be fined thousands of dollars. Illegal immigrants are exempt.

Sec. 412 (p. 272) says that employers must provide a “QUALIFIED PLAN” for their employees and pay 72.5% of the cost, and a smaller share of family coverage, or incur an 8% payroll tax. Smaller payroll businesses are fined less.

     The bill Sec. 1302 (pp. 672-692) cuts future Medicare funding by $500 Billion, takes away patient rights to choose which doctor to see, permits the government to dictate treatment decisions, and specifies patients may have to accept a nurse practitioner instead of a physician.

     • Secs. 1158-1160 (pp. 499-520) reduces payments for care and the standard of care for hospital patients in higher cost areas such as New York and Florida.

     • Sec. 1161 (pp. 520-545) cuts payments to Medicare Advantage plans (used by 20% of seniors) expected to cut back benefits such as vision and dental care.

While the bill will slash Medicare funding, it will also direct Billions of dollars to numerous inner-city social work and diversity programs with vague standards of accountability.

     • Sec. 399V (p. 1422) provides for grants to community “entities” with no required qualifications except having “documented community activity and experience with community healthcare workers” to “educate, guide, and provide experiential learning opportunities” aimed at drug abuse, poor nutrition, smoking and obesity.    

     • Sec. 222 (p. 617) provides reimbursement for training healthcare workers to inform Medicare beneficiaries of their right to an interpreter.

     • Secs. 2521 and 2533 (pp. 1379 and 1437) establishes racial and ethnic preferences in awarding grants for training nurses and creating secondary-school health science programs.     

 And all of this is just the tip of the iceberg! For the text of the bill with page numbers, see www.defendyourhealthcare.us     

# # #               

Listen To Yo Mama!

     Remember those stern warnings  you used to get, but don’t anymore because now you’re a hot-shot business owner or manager and you don’t need anybody telling you what to do anymore?

     Remember being told  to “Listen To Yo Mama!” and you would study your feet and mumble some feeble “Yes’am” or “Yessir” then back out the kitchen door with your tail between your legs because you knew in your heart that Mama was right? Remember?

     And nobody dares tell you that stuff now, now  that you’re the boss? Ah, but bear with me here. Just read a little more. Why? Because you don’t sign my paycheck, so I can tell you what I think straightout! Here it is. Ready?

     If you don’t take care of you,  you can’t be any good to anyone else . . . and you certainly aren’t going to make your business work from a hospital bed! (Sound like Mama?) Well, my dear blog visiting business-minded muckity-muck, just because nobody is on your case about if and when and how you take care of your SELF, doesn’t excuse you from stepping up to the plate!

     Yeah, yeah, yeah,  you say. But you know what? If you don’t eat right, nobody else will do it for you. If you don’t sleep right, nobody else will do it for you. If you don’t exercise enough, nobody else will do it for you. If you don’t quit smoking and drink in moderation, nobody else will do it for you. If you don’t switch from drugs to vitamins, nobody else will do it for you.

     Oh, and of course, if you don’t take enough deep breaths: http://bit.ly/Bb1Tw . . . well, there are machines that can help. The bottom line is that when you are not taking care of you, you are not taking care of your business, and the whole enchilada is YOUR CHOICE!

     We CHOOSE our behavior.  Okay, so why on Earth would you choose to want to continue with self-destruct behaviors that will kill you AND your business (as MY mother used to put it) in two shakes of a lamb’s tail (and THAT’s pretty quick!) when you have SO much opportunity ahead of you?

     Do us a favor, okay?  When you wake up tomorrow morning, clap your hands together twice as Zig Ziglar suggests, and say (with as much enthusiasm as you can):

OH BOY! WHAT A GREAT DAY TO GET UP AND GET TO IT. I BELIEVE SOMETHING WONDERFUL IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO ME TODAY!”

     Then keep choosing  to take care of your SELF all day because you’ll be choosing to get both your business self and your business together like you’ve never been together before. Go on, do it! Just do it for three days in a row. You might surprise yourself . . . and maybe even jumpstart your sales! (and this advice is not only proven; it’s cheaper than a lottery ticket!)     

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GOT A SICK WEBSITE?

Check Your Content Vitals!

     When words and sentences  are not set off in visually-balanced spacing arrangements, or are broken in mid-thought, or lack the proper relationship to one another, or suffer from overkill font treatments, or are simply too cluttered looking . . . they lose impact.

     When this occurs on your website,  you lose visitors. Lost visitors mean lost sales. And here’s what makes it even worse that very many business owners don’t realize:

Lost site visits = Opportunity losses

     A rarely thought-about or accounted-for reality  is that — like the exponential explosion of bad reputation that can be ignited by just one unhappy customer — there is a click-off dynamic in place which can threaten your website health by unhappy “pass-along visitorships.”

People talk. People Email. People Twitter. People Txtmsg.

     In the old days,  we would ask one another:  Did you see that front page story? Or, did you see that TV special? Now we say: Did you check that site? And how do you respond when you think a site eats dirt? Or maybe in a moment of assertiveness, you even volunteer to others that a site you just looked at isn’t worth their time to visit?

     Missed visits  from those who might ordinarily check a site but are forewarned to not waste their time by a family member, friend or associate who already stopped by (and found the site boring, stale or confusing) cost sales, the opportunity to cultivate sales, and — fairly or not — reputation … maybe even 2nd and 3rd hand negative comments.

     Your homepage and landing pages  cannot be too engaging. And — opposite of what many site designers and self-proclaimed website and SEO and SEM and conversion “specialists” would have you believe — it’s the content (copywriting), not the graphics that sell.

     If in fact the words are what sell,  why would you want to settle for anything less than the perfect sets of words on your site? Why would you want to have them be bro-                                  ken in the wrong places? Or have headlines that end or start a line of text on a peculiar                     word?

     In other words, YOU HAVE 7 SECONDS  to get someone into your site, or you’ve lost them. If you’ve lost them, those people are likely to lose you others, others who may never have even gotten a glimpse of your offerings.

     The best thing you can do  to prevent “Pass-Along” Site Visitor Virus, and minimize your website opportunity losses is to get (and pay the piper for) great copywriting. The words are critical. How the words appear is critical. A great copywriter tends to both of these ingredients.

     A great copywriter  is invested in creating and producing words that sell. What happens to your site visitors in the first 7 seconds?

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Blow the sale or

hold your tongue?

Diplomacy: Skill and tact in dealing with people

It’s comin’ ’round agin… the ole trainin’ ground fer dip-lo-macy. Yup! Thanksgivin’ gatherin’s.

Now if you can get through the entire dysfunctional-family -Thanksgiving-experience this year (especially this year with the sucky economy and your brother-in-law crabbing about the price of gas to drive to your house to eat), you will have earned a medal.

But –more importantly —  you will have completed the qualifying round for your annual refresher training on how to deal diplomatically with your internal and your external customers! (Internal: associates, employees, referrers, alumni, key suppliers; External: customers / clients / guests / patients, other suppliers, industry and community organizations, and the media) Maybe missing someone here, but you get the idea.

IF you can deal with your in-laws,  little kids terrorizing your dog and spilling unknown fluids on your furnishings and floor coverings, your uncle ranting about his adolescence (which he’s still in), your aunt Tilly reminiscing about her last 47 Thanksgivings, the neighbor’s kid revving up his overhauled Mustang next to your only broken window, and having to step over eleven spastic bodies glued to some idiotic football game on the TV that separates you from the only available bathroom, while hearing that four hours into the roasting process, the turkey still has ice inside of it

… YOU are ready to sell (No, not your house! Your products and services!)

How do we know this?  Because you’ve managed to deal with all of that and not be in jail, or the nuthouse! Somehow, you’ve risen to the occasion, kept the peace, swallowed your pride, bitten your gums and held your tongue (doing the last three items at the same time, by the way, is a pretty good trick!)

So what will you have learned  on the Thanksgiving firing line? There are times to speak and there are times to listen. EVERYONE is a prospective or repeat customer. EVERYone. Your appearance and demeanor and receptivity will determine whether others have a good time or not. Too much alcohol can undo the best of intentions. Too much food will give you a stomachache. Not stepping outside into the fresh air periodically will give you a headache (but avoid the side of the house with the revving Mustang!)

Every day is a new opportunity to do the best that you can do.  Thanksgiving, besides being a truly great opportunity to appreciate family and friends and all the brave young servicemen and servicewomen who make it possible to be able to gather together in the first place. It is also a great day to practice diplomacy and carry that renewed spirit forward in returning to your work.

OR, hey, don’t wait ’til the end of the month;  just read about it here, today, and start holding your tongue tomorrow! Sales are only made by listening! 

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You got 7 seconds, Baby! Do it!

     So you think you can make sales  by building relationships? You think you can sweet talk a prospect into a sale? You think that starting your spiel with a joke will get that signature on the dotted line? You are helping customers to slow own, relax, take it step at a time so they’ll love you when they decide to buy?

YOU ARE WRONG, WRONG, WRONG, and WRONG! 

     Statistical studies have long shown  that average adult attention span in America is 12 minutes, 7-8 minutes for decision makers, and 7 SECONDS to size you up (It used to be 10 seconds, but we’re in the WiFi age!).

     This means, dear business owners, managers and salespeople  (that’s EVERYone, btw), that you better have your you-know-what together and be prepared to make a spectacular 7-second first impression. Bottom line: No time to blink! 

     First off, junk this dumb idea  that some touchy-feely guru sold you about “relationship selling.” Assuming you still want to have a job in a couple of months (weeks, even), then be alert to the fact that the building of customer relationships can ONLY happen AFTER the sale is made.

     The sale is the starting line. When the check clears the bank is when to start all the hugging and kissing and hand-holding commotion, and not ten seconds earlier! Disregard this at your peril. 7 SECONDS! You got 7 seconds, Baby! Do it! Go for the sale, B~U~T that doesn’t mean to rush in like a ton of bricks. It means make the most of those 7 seconds. 

     One sales pro I respect says  he uses those first 7 seconds to “radiate authenticity and ask a genuine leading question.” What’s an example? “Are you looking to upgrade what you have or try something new?” will certainly get you further than, “How’s the weather out there today?” or “Hi, would you like some help?” 

     “Radiating authenticity,”  incidentally implies many things. Your appearance for one. No one expects you to be wearing a tie and jacket (or a dress and high heels) if you’re visiting farms, nor are you likely to get too far in delivering a Fortune 500 board of directors presentation in jeans and sneakers. Clothes CAN make the sale when they’re authentic and appropriate.  A GENUINE smile and fresh (not overkill Scope) breath help!

     Grooming  is the other half of appearance. And if you don’t already get that you’ll do better scrubbed and neatly trimmed, you probably need more help than this blog can provide. 

     When 7 seconds can make it or break it, when 7 seconds is all it takes for a decision maker to size you up and decide if she or he wants to do business with you or not, you need a game plan. It’s fourth quarter and you’re 3 points behind on the 50-yard line with 7 seconds. You sure better know what you’re going to do when the ball is hiked. You are, after all, calling the plays!                                                                      

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No Boy Scouts here.

T H I S   Is Business!

     C.O. Bigelow Apothecaries in England  brands its products with “Honest – Genuine – Trustworthy” because the drug chain recognizes that branding is all about behavior and the values you stand for.

     Theirs is no over-inflated “We promise you the world”  kind of empty promise that we see with so many businesses. Their three words tell you what they’re all about, without empty promises.

     What is YOUR business saying about itself?  Are you keeping at least one eye open to the message your business is putting out to internal and external customers? Is what you’re communicating consistent? Are you speaking the same language to your suppliers and investors and referrers as you are to your customers and prospects?

     Too many businesses —  especially(but not exclusively) those less than ten years old — seem to be glossing over the genuineness of what branding is all about. It is NOT a slogan, a motto, a jingle, or a cutesy themeline.

     Branding IS a concise statement of what you’re all about.  It is a way of telling then public that this is what you stand for. It is a short version of what your mission statement, vision statement and your goals are all about… all rolled into one! It’s how you think and behave.

     C.O. Bigelow Apothecaries  prints “Honest – Genuine – Trustworthy” on the surface of the products it sells. Why? Obviously because they believe it! What do YOU believe? Do you stand behind (or alongside) your products and services? Do your customers and prospects know it?

     Or are you trying to bamboozle them  into thinking you’ve got the world’s greatest product or service at the world’s best price, and by the way, not accepting returns when people find out what you’ve sold them doesn’t live up to what you’ve promised? Why are you promising what you can’t deliver? Branding is about delivering what you promise! 

     Stop hiring empty-suit marketing groups,  agencies, and consultants who tell you they’ll “brand” you with a “branding program” that will bring you untold riches. BS! All they’ll do is charge you big fees to win awards for themselves. I promise they will not deliver sales.

     When you go to an outsider  for these kinds of services, make sure that individual or group understands what you’re all about and is a proven expert at representing your authenticity in 7 value-packed words or less. Anything else, and you’re wasting your money.   

# # #

  FREE blog subscription: Posts RSS Feed

  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!