Stewards of Sustainability:

Show Us Your Cupboards!

The latest Gallup Poll shows 47% to 19% of Americans are opposed to raising the debt ceiling.

No doubt for perceived vote-getting value, Mr. Obama appears to be seeking to steer us away from this issue by pretending to be fast on the heels of solving the gas price disaster (which threatens to thoroughly destroy whatever remains of America’s economy) by attempting to extend oil production leases and hold more frequent lease sales.

Sounds great, but like so many other too-little-too-late White House manipulations, this horse will stall at the  gate. More oil drilling sounds good, but doesn’t mean anything. Gas prices will not change anytime soon. Why? Because too long a time has been taken to initiate action. Oh, and by the way, the EPA has to approve it too. They won’t.

As every successful business owner knows, REAL leaders faced with real crunch situations –like skyrocketing gas prices, moving debt ceilings, Mid-East tension tentacles, and let’s not forget the U word:  Unemployment— use instinct and at-hand information to act. They act first, and worry about analyzing the decision afterward.

From Albert Einstein to Bill Gates, the world’s genius’s have said that all we ever have is limited knowledge. Taking too long to make decisions is a major downfall of corporate management — analysis paralysis — and government is a prime contender. Gas pump prices have been an “immediate” issue with the public since 2008!

Your business would have folded by now if you spent three years of foot-dragging and kicking around should-we-or-shouldn’t-we options to solve a major “immediate” problem.

One need not be either Einstein or Gates to see that continually rising gas prices create continually rising shipping and transportation prices, which create continually rising food prices.

This progression (regression?) of true-grit stress triggers is like throwing explosives in the fireplace, especially when we add to the mix our continually rising unemployment rates, devaluation of the dollar, and loss of global respect.

(Ah, yes, and all the while, we tug at the small business choke-hold leash of mandated healthcare on the short horizon.)  

And we’re only addressing the relationship to small business here. Consider the even larger impact on family life and managing stress. Fuel affordability factors itself quickly into human dignity and self-esteem issues when gas pump prices exceed ability to take a weekend break visit to the shore or the mountains, the zoo or a sporting event.

Global leadership is simply a worthless wish if the nation’s economic foundation continues to crumble.

Socialist causes are draining the reality of economic resurgence.

Being “green” is useless if you can’t afford to eat!

How far are you willing to be pushed before stepping up to work for new national leadership that will take action over sound bites and voter-control agendas?

The brink of bankruptcy?

There are 30 million small business owners worth of clout in America. Use it or lose it!

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Hal@Businessworks.US or 302.933.0116

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals. God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

What you see is what you get,

and with Txt Msgs,

you see nothing!

In-person meetings are most telling. Phone calls? At least you can “hear” a smile or gasp or snort. And, if you’re paying attention, you can usually tell if the person on the other end is paying attention. Even emails give you a clue. Texting? Fuggetaboudit!

According to my friend Jeff Banning, president of award-winning third-party logistics provider, Trinity Logistics, Inc. in Seaford, Delaware:

“effective communication is only 7% verbal. 38%, is (transmitted) by your tone of voice, and 55% is through non-verbal body language.”

Are you taking note, sales professionals?

In other words, more than half of effective communication is not spoken!

With hundreds of employee “teammates,” Jeff oversees more than seventy successful offices across the country, so I believe what he says.

Because we are humans (or is that too presumptuous?), we get fooled sometimes. But we all know instinctively that we are less likely to be fooled when we can take stock by looking someone in the eye.

Eye contact of course is hardly within the realm of txt msg textability.

. . . Or emails. Ah, but emails at least do provide us with some clues . . . I’m not referring to the chit-chatty ones or quick one-sentence back and forth emails. I mean significant emails — ones with proposals. reports, attachments, outlines, strategies, plans, applications, etc.

Someone who doesn’t use spellcheck, for example, or avoids greetings and sign-offs, or who clearly never takes the time to read what she or he wrote, and specifically to read it out loud to her or himself (which all great writers do, by the way), tells us the sender is likely rude and/or insincere.

How can you tell when someone is lying? Teasing? Taunting? Smiling but angry? In a superiority mode? Anxious to leave? Eagerly interested? Tolerating? Bored? Ready to explode? Thoughtfully considering? These and other responses are right in front of you, staring you in the face. The “eyes” (with apologies to Parliament) have it!

This doesn’t mean you must always be in some one’s physical presence in order to “read” the meaning or intention of his or her messages by checking eye movements and facial expressions.

If you’ve read enough of my blog posts over the last few years, you know when I’m kidding or serious. You know when I’m sad or angry or frustrated by the words I use and how I present them. You can generally discern other people’s “tone of voice” even when you can’t physically hear them.

But when situations and/or people involved are important, nothing beats the unspoken messages that come from other peoples’ eyes. Yes, like the song, there are indeed “Lyin’ Eyes,” but paying careful attention (not staring or glaring, mind you) to what you see in the eyes of a speaker or presenter will minimize being taken advantage of.

The only way on earth that you can be effective at “reading” others is by keeping yourself grounded, and focused on the here-and-now present moment as much of the time as possible. Aside from monitoring your pulse or heartbeat (which can get a bit awkward under some circumstances), this no-fail approach is worth your one-minute review.

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Hal@Businessworks.US or 302.933.0116

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals. God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Entrepreneurs and Leaders

Who Listen 

Win Big in Tough Times 

STEPS TO IMPROVE YOUR LISTENING SKILLS NOW

Do you hear what I hear? Listen, do you want to know a secret? Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Friends, Romans, Countrymen, Lend Me Your Ears! The Listening Audience. I’m all ears!

You can’t be a better listener just because you decide to listen more. You must also decide to keep quiet. And those who excel at listening skills will tell you that you must actually use a pen and paper (you DO remember what they are?) and write down notes about what you hear. Paraphrasing is critical. So are observation skills.

Plus, taking notes flatters any speaker.

Let’s hit on some key points:

1. PARAPHRASING —“Do I understand you correctly to mean…?” and “What I think I hear you saying is…!” are the most effective and most commonly used sets of words for rephrasing some one’s comments. When you do this, you are in effect checking to make sure that you accurately understand what the speaker intends.

Yes, it takes more time. Yes, it can be harder than assuming. But–in the end– it’s like the carpenter/surgeon slogan: measure twice and cut once. It’s an insurance policy on transmitting accuracy.

2. OBSERVING — You need not be a kinetics expert to see that the body language that accompanies the words spoken either confirms or contradicts what is being said.

Someone who claims a willingness to cooperate with you, but whose arms are crossed is responding defensively regardless of what words she or he uses. Hands on hips, or clasped behind the head are signals of superiority. So is the joining of fingertips on both hands.

(The challenge is to make these postures change without directly addressing them.)

3. NODDING AND VERBAL UTTERANCES — Generally (unless they’re overdone) these physical responses indicate agreement and that the individual involved is paying attention. Not a bad idea to nod and make some positive sounding “um’s” occasionally when you want someone to know you’re tuned in, and in the boat, so to speak.

Equally commitive signals are leaning forward, sitting forward, feet flat on the floor without jiggling, and both hands flat on the table. A jiggling foot or leg indicates that someone’s anxious to get out, get away, finish up.

4. ASKING QUESTIONS — People will know you are interested and engaged when you ask good questions along the way . . . not questions to trip somebody up, questions to learn more. Whenever it’s possible and makes sense and works to clarify, ask for examples. Ask for diagrams. Ask for demonstrations. Ask for samples. Ask.

5. MONITORING YOURSELF — Stay as close to the commonly accepted effective communicator guidelines of speaking 20% of the time and listening 80% of the time. (Asking questions helps.) Take some deep breaths, especially when you start to feel impatient or edgy. Deep breathing helps you stay in control.

The dynamics of all the above apply equally to situations where you are not face-to-face. Telephone and video and webinar conferences are good examples of places to carry over the same disciplines. If you think about it, you’ll also see that similar applications are possible (and advisable) with written/email/text message communications. No, you can’t physically “see” another person, but you can sense and imagine based on responses you get.

If you work to listen better, you will hear 

more “cha-ching” in your cash register! 

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STRATEGY/ CONTENT/ CONNECTION

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Entrepreneurship & Expansion Coaching    931.854.0474

Go for your goals, thanks for your visit, God Bless You!

OPEN  MINDS  OPEN  DOORS

Make Today A Great Day For Someone!

Being smart enough to

practice what you preach,

separates leaders

from lecturers.

Lectures are discourses packaged for delivery to “career students,” government employees, and sheep.

None of these needy creatures care about whether a lecturer has lived up to the spirit and letter of the lecture focus, or has actually practiced delivering her or his lecture to a match-up audience in order to gather advance feedback for adjustment purposes. Lecturers rarely indulge in studying themselves or their audiences.

So practice –for the purposes of this post– means doing what you ask or tell others to do, but it also means trying out and rehearsing your presentation of what you plan to say. How else can you make sure it communicates clearly to those you seek to communicate with? Simple enough, yes? But, aha! It’s rarely done, except by leading leaders.

If you’re not in a business emergency or an emergency business, slow down what you have to say long enough to think through what you have to say before you speak, before you hit “Send,” before you release or publish it. . . in person, on the phone, in emails and text messages . . . in meetings, presentations, and marketing.

Regardless of the nature of your business, are you certain your words, and vocal or written tone of voice are effectively communicating the ideas and points you want to convey? Have you tried, tested, and rehearsed the important messages in ways that encourage and generate meaningful and honest feedback? Are you sure?

You know all that stuff about first impressions, active listening, and soliciting effective feedback, but are you doing it? Have you set yourself up to be approachable? Great writers get great readers to review and edit their drafts.

Smart entrepreneurs and business owners often clear subject matter they want to transmit or present with their lawyers, accountants, advisors and consultants, investors, partners and referrers, but fail miserably to get representatives of their target audiences to tune in, understand, and respond productively to their spiels.

If you fail to get direct and primary feedback from your sales team and key customers, for example, on a new marketing direction or branding program or revenue stream, you are likely to fail with it.

It really doesn’t take much to advance-check your facts on Bing or Google.

It doesn’t take much time either to advance-check the opinions and perceptions of those you seek to impact.

The medium is (still) the message — at least half the message anyway.

Professionally-run focus groups and interviews are hard to beat for first-hand qualitative input.

HOW you come across cannot be a random hit-or-miss event when it’s an investor, bank loan, partnership, major customer account, or key employee you seek to influence. Reassurance comes from asking and adjusting, asking and adjusting, and asking and adjusting.

__________________________

“Yeah, but I’m better when I wing it!”

Don’t kid yourself. That’s an excuse to not do the hard work of preparation. You may think you’re a great spontaneous presenter, but you should know that others can tell when you’re winging it!

— —————————-

On top of all this rationale, the icing on the cake, is the intangible but striking value of engaging others in your process. By soliciting others’ opinions and judgments, you are motivating, encouraging, and rewarding those you draw from. You set them apart by sharing a special level of trust with them.

Think about the feelings of importance, responsibility, and confidence you feel when others ask for your input. Leading leaders lead by inspiring enthusiasm, innovation, and entrepreneurial thinking. They motivate others to achieve. Practicing what you preach motivates others to achieve.  

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“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals. God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

As a writer, designer, teacher, 

artist, architect, landscaper,

jewelry-maker, stylist or stage

performer, if you’re not

risking . . . you’re not

being honest!

With special thanks to author Mary DeMuth for the three great words: “Risk being unliked” which were featured in her article, “A Smart Approach to MEMOIR” in the June 2011 issue of The WRITER.

Those of us who create for a living, who own, operate, or manage creative businesses understand immediately what the “Risk being unliked” message is all about. And does it apply to professional selling too? Absolutely.

Whether we create with computers or paint brushes; with crafts supplies, hair, or music; with classrooms or pen and paper, or with the ways we communicate our sales messages, we must –as Ms. DeMuth so aptly puts it– “Tell the truth as you understand it. If you’re a writer,” she says, “you have a moral obligation to do this.”

I propose that truth-telling applies to all businesses, even the least creative.

When your focus, your branding, your website, your messages, your employees, and most importantly YOU are all about telling the truth as you understand it, you are setting yourself up to cultivate strengthened long-term high-trust relationships. Those who unlike you for it are not those you want to deal with anyway.

Honesty is (still) the best policy!

I’m not suggesting any limitations here. What’s the best way to express this idea to people who earn their keep with their creative talents? Could there be any greater and more meaningful statement than the following six words from Shakespeare?:

To thine own self be true.

When you believe heart and soul that the line, the dimension, the color, the musical note, the arrangement, the word choice, the emphasis is what your gut, your intuitive experience, says it needs to be, go with it and don’t waste time worrying about winning a popularity contest. People will judge your authenticity, not your masks or apologies.

For ALL business pursuits, not fibbing to or misleading customers, employees, associates, partners, referrers, investors, professional advisors,  lenders, and the various communities you serve is just one chapter of your build-a-better-business book. Leadership transparency is another. Honoring commitments is yet a third. 

Delivering exactly what you say you’re going to deliver –and more– exactly when you say you’re going to deliver it is the standard by which others will continuously measure your business performance.

There’s risk involved in all of this, but as with the mark of true entrepreneurship, the risk is always a reasonable one. We’re not talking about harnessing creative spirit here. In fact, if anything, the suggestion is to set it free, and to recognize that the results produced by an honest free spirit outperform those born of smoke and mirrors.

Don’t throw the tending to details, business conduct, and tight-fisted money management out with the baby’s bathwater simply for the sake of being more expressive in the products, services, and ideas you create. But do stop cowering away from being straight-ahead with your work and with all those you come into contact with every day.

Your behavior is of course your choice. Where do you think your reputation comes from?                                            

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Hal@Businessworks.US or 302.933.0116

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals. God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Is this new

Alert System for you?

Tonight’s post summarizes some of the highlights of a new Business Terrorist Alert System devised by small business owners for small business owners.

The aim is to keep terroristic employee chatter to a minimum, productivity to a maximum, and provide advance warning of all levels of problem issues to all who work in and with your business.

System design serves to prompt increased awareness levels of suspicious behavior with need-to-know reporting access which includes direct communication transmission to the FBI, the CIA, The United States Secret Service, The Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America, and Judge Judy.

[Is your tongue in your cheek yet?]

When your employees approach the entrance to your work site each day –whether a construction location or fancy office building, or your garage– they will see a brightly-colored flag designating the level of terrorist alert you want them to adhere to.

–————————————-

RED, for example, relates to the most potentially threatening category: market competition. It may indicate an impending price war or that quality control invasions have been incurred overnight, that “bad press” mass media sound bites and photo ops have been unleashed, or that UFOs or crop circles have been sighted in the immediate vicinity of your business.

An ORANGE flag signifies that information overload has occurred sometime between the departure of your last work shift of employees and the present arrival of this (orange-flagged) shift. Generally, when some combination of 63,000 emails and a full tape-machine of voicemails has accumulated overnight, you got trouble! Orange flags are an automatic distress call for your business’s Spam Management Team to kick into high gear.

A GREEN flag at the front door or worksite entrance usually indicates some internal catastrophe regarding faulty operating equipment or systems, or the recording of budget excesses, lunchroom maintenance or menu irregularities –or suddenly discovered unaccountable inventories– have surfaced overnight. It could also represent a database collapse or information overload memos are presently sitting at every workstation.

A PINK flag means pink slips. Serious downsizing is in order, and substantial outsourcing is in progress. It may additionally indicate that HRD recruitment programs are presently being conducted to solicit lower-cost replacement personnel from nearby prisons, psychiatric hospitals, nursing homes, and terrorist training camps from far-away deserts.

Any time one of these flags is displayed together with a BLUE flag, it is done to warn unsuspecting employees and visitors that alarmist situations have risen to a fever pitch and that these events are typically accompanied by the installation of telephone, conference room, and men’s room listening device bugs; a de-bugging equipment room; hallway or worksite ceiling (or tree-mounted) mirrors; a beefed up security department; armed sentry positions; hidden satellite cameras; the installation of quirky receptionists on a rotation schedule; and new back-up tire-puncture plates in each parking space.

————————————–

If NO flag is flown on any particular day, you and your employees can consider yourselves fortunate. You have somehow made it through the last 24 hours without incident or serious threat. Thank your lucky stars. But don’t let down your guard. Who knows what evil lurks in the minds of men? The Shadow knows. Hahahahahahahahahhaha.

It seemed like as good a time as any for you to break from serious business stuff, just for a day! ;<) Have a great weekend ahead. See you back here with “KILLER BUSINESSES” on Saturday night!

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Hal@Businessworks.US or 302.933.0116

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals. God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Going under

and around

business problems

guarantees no solution.

Unless you tackle troublesome issues head-on, answer questions and respond to your messages promptly, you can be sure they’ll still be around on your next visit, and will no doubt have gathered velocity, weight, and momentum while awaiting your return.

Okay, easier said than done, right? Well sure, if you choose to make it hard on yourself. You can be certain that if you consciously or unconsciously choose for something to be hard, it will be. “Yes, but…” you start to reply. Don’t choose to “yes-but”; choose instead to get on with solving the problem.

Then, no matter which way the chips fall, the next step is to choose to get over it! (Because dwelling on what did or didn’t happen is itself a problem –an interruption– and can become worse than the original.)

There is no time in either life or business to dwell on what did or didn’t happen. We all root for teams that lose, but by mentally and emotionally hanging on to a loss, we actively set ourselves up to be losers ourselves. Wishing and hoping are childhood fantasies that accomplish nothing. Only action speaks.

Only by taking action steps can we expect to have the possibility of a favorable outcome.

“Well,” says you, “I can’t always jump on every problem that comes along. It’s too interruptive. And I already have too many interruptions to deal with every day!”

In case you’ve somehow missed what I’m about to say in response, let me be loud and clear about it:

BUSINESS LIFE . . . entrepreneurship, management, ownership, partnership, counseling and consulting, investing and lending, designing, inventing, innovating, creating, being engaged with any form of business . . . IS: One big interruption after another. But it’s why you get the big bucks!

One big interruption after another. People knock on your wall, waltz into your workspace, call you on the phone, slip notes under your door, send you 347,000 emails a day, throw pebbles (bricks?) at your window. They step up to your breakfast table, lunch table, dinner table, meeting table, and call to you under the bathroom stall.

Sometimes it seems that all of these things are happening at once. It’s your job to separate, sort out, prioritize and respond. And even as you perform these functions, yet more interruptions are bound to occur. This is also why we all need some time away once in awhile.

Small business owners notoriously deal best with turning interruptive problems into productive opportunities. Corporate types expend all their energy analyzing every interruption that comes along. They use all forms of committees and groups and teams to do this, but analysis paralysis is the byproduct.

Got Government? Government sleeps and sweeps stuff under rugs hoping it will just go away, or that someone else can solve the problem at hand so that government can step into the spotlight and take the credit. When everything’s under the rug, nothing is really “interruptive.”  The rug just gets hilly in spots. And productive, it ain’t!  

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 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals. God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

BEING TOO GRATEFUL?

Is there such a thing!

The only person who finds it annoying to hear you say “Thank You” over and over is someone who is too self-absorbed to routinely express appreciation, or just too ignorant to consider it, or who is insecure about speaking up. Many people fear being too “overkill” thankful. There is no such thing.

It’s a well known fact that human beings value and respond positively to “Thank You!” especially when it’s delivered sincerely. Don’t you? Think about it. How much can you say it? It’s never too much. Point to one single instance in the world in all of history where someone has died from being too grateful.

So how can you best cultivate all these positive responses in your personal, professional and business lives?

By letting more people know more often how much you appreciate their efforts on your behalf, no matter how insignificant they may seem.

Besides making them feel good, you’ll get more smiles and better service.

Is there anyone reading this who would not enjoy getting more smiles and better service? Really.

So start practicing when you wake up in the morning. In the bathroom mirror. To your spouse and kids. With neighbors. With fellow commuters, associates and employees, partners, advisors, investors, lenders, referrers, suppliers, vendors, visiting sales reps, OF COURSE CUSTOMERS. (Being continually grateful is the highest form of branding!) Thank the guy who fills your water glass at lunch.

You get it, right? Thank you.

Make it as much of a habit as brushing your teeth and fastening your seatbelt. It really is not hard. Simply prove to yourself how smart your brain is, and just choose it! (Thank you!)

Okay, says you, you’re just looking for work. Guess what’s the fastest way to make a positive impression to give yourself the competitive edge boost in your job search? A prospective employer (or client) takes you to lunch to size you up –to make sure you know where the napkin goes, and that you don’t order whiskey shots with your eggsalad sandwich.

You thank the maitre de or hostess, the waiter or waitress with every table visit, the bus boy who cleans off the table, anyone and everyone. If it doesn’t help you get a job offer, the prospect isn’t worthy of your talents and upbeat personality (Go back to the first sentence at the top of this post to see what you’ve got; be glad for not working there).

Oh, and while thank you’s will certainly not replace raises, bonuses, 401ks, healthcare plans and insurance coverage any time soon, you’ll be surprised how your increased use of them with employees will have the effect of minimizing these kinds of concerns as contentious issues, and there’s no better way to motivate your troops!

Try just 10 more thank you’s a day for one week, and see what happens.

You’ll thank yourself.

Then what?

What’s next?

Hmmm, well maybe think about trying “Please” more often?

. . . Hey, thank you! 

                           

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Hal@Businessworks.US or 931.854.0474

 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals. God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Is your business on thin ice, 

racing around in circles,

bashing competitors in the

teeth, and getting nowhere?

If your answer to the headline question above is “YES,” then it’s probably time to pack up your puck and hang up your skates, or look for a different sport for your business.

The problem is not how you got where you are, nor is it –at this point– knowing where you’re going. Like extracting an accident victim from under a car or caved-in roof, concern one needs to be: How to get yourself out.

Entrepreneurs often dig themselves into holes (especially financial ones) while they have their heads down and are charging forward trying to make their ideas work.

The tendency is to grasp desperately at the first straws offered by the first investor who comes along and seems willing to plunk down enough rolls of quarters to post bail and get the new business venture out of the penalty box. Oh, sorry, back to hockey. (I never did like fighting with sticks, and on skates no less.)

The point is that jumping at an expression of interest from a venture capitalist, who may want to own 51-75% of your business is never a good idea . . . unless you’re a serial entrepreneur and looking to get in, make a quick killing, and then get out. And even then, it may not be a wise move. S~L~O~W yourself down. This is marriage.  

Venture capital (VC) deals are particularly risky if you know down deep that the business is teetering (no, not Twitter Tweeting) on the brink of bankruptcy (which is not always evident on the surface . . . and which many entrepreneurs refuse to accept or think about even when it’s staring them in the face!). 

First off, most VC professionals don’t make a practice of investing in incipient bankruptcies, so –even though our unprofessional federal government has proven that it thinks nothing of throwing good tax-dollars after bad business operations– a floundering business startup is not likely to see any real bailout options come along.

Unless money comes from an “Angel Investor.”

An Angel Investor might be Uncle Louie or Auntie Oprah or some recently re-acquainted long-lost college or Army buddy, or a wealthy next door neighbor who’s been watching the business take over the garage and who figures he can always foreclose on your property if a loan isn’t paid, and become a serious land-owner.

Before a struggling venture surfaces long enough to search for financial relief of any kind, it makes the most sense to look first INSIDE to see if overhead and/or operations can be trimmed or scaled back first without sacrificing the essence of the business’s product or service offerings. Note the word “essence.” (“Quality” and “Value” are variables.)

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 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals. God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Before you throw all your

  tech stuff on the BBQ . . .

Recognize, first and foremost, that your greatest assets are your people. If you’re a one-man-band, maybe “your people” are a loving spouse, partner, children or parents who assist you, or a reliable friend or two who consistently refer(s) others to you . . . or a hotbed of talented interns.

If you’re the owner of a small to medium-size business, perhaps “your people” are account or department or office or branch managers.

The point is that I am NOT suggesting you run around torching these folks, or even giving any of them a baseball-dugout-style “hotfoot.”  I AM suggesting that you ask yourself (and answer) the following questions:

Can you readily identify and easily separate your internal and external customers?

What percentage of each day are you actively marketing to each group?

In other words:

• How much and how often are you (externally) marketing your people?

• How much and how often are you (internally) marketing TO your people?

• How much and how often are you (internally AND externally) marketing THROUGH your people?

Do you think the meaning of Customer Service is to have a Customer Service person or department?

• If each and every one of your internal customers know how to relate to and respond to external customers, why would you have to pay someone or a group to perform this function?

• Ideally, anyone in your organization whom I might reach by phone or meet in-person should be able to handle my customer service needs.

Your marketing people or your own marketing sense tell(s) you how to motivate external customers. You surely have a strong idea of what sells and what doesn’t sell them on your product(s) and/or service(s). Do you have a sense of confidence about the best ways to motivate internal customers?

Do you apply Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs?

If you try (or have tried to) apply Maslow’s Hierarchy, are you (or have you) doing (done) it from a position of strength — by first being a detective to understand individual “hot spots”? Has this approach helped you to realize that the best internal customer rewards are not (in spite of all popular beliefs) not always cash, raises, and bonuses?

As a leader who is heavily invested in growing the loyalty, respect, and receptivity of both internal and external customers, are you making a conscious effort to breed entrepreneurial thinking accompanied by reasonable risk-taking behaviors? Or are you breeding investment in the status quo?

Are you fostering and nurturing innovation. Do your people come to you with just ideas, or do they fully exploit the ideas they propose with well thought out paths for implementation that include all possible operational, financial and marketing applications? Do you get a thorough and complete picture instead of just a quick sketch? 

Having great people behind you is great for your ego. Having great people behind you who are inspired and highly motivated, who deliver comprehensive plans of attack, is great for your business.

Which is more important? 

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“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]

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