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Welcome to the world’s first

BIZ ALPHABET SERIES of blog posts

“A”… AUTHENTICITY

Not to worry. The other “A” subjects have been adequately addressed already. You can put Attitude and Action and Advertising and Addiction into the Search window and find ample applicati0ns. I have dealt with “Authenticity,” but not with such appropriate substance! So, here you go:

AUTHENTICITY is not just acting authentically –genuinely, realistically– but actually BEING authentic. Not just occasionally or periodically, or just with certain people. Being authentic means all the time, with every encounter, every day, from opening your eyes on the pillow, to closing your eyes on your pillow.

BAH! That’s not possible, you might think. Who, after all, can be genuine every waking minute of every day? We’re humans, you might argue. We’re inherently manipulative, devious, off-putting. It’s not like turning a water faucet on and off.

 What’s your AQ?

(Authenticity Quotient . . . is there such a thing?

Who knows? But pretend there is.

Make it what you want to be and keep reading!)

Hey, points well taken. But there ARE opportunities for each of us to do better than what we do. Part of that is attached to visualizing the payoff, and recognizing that increasing our Authenticity Quotient from –for instance– 30% to, say, 50%, has most of all to do with recognizing and accepting that authentic behavior is a choice!

[And, like smiling when you don’t feel like it has been proven to actually make you feel better,behaving in more authentic ways can actually help you BE more authentic.]                                 

Whats the ROI? How about a more fulfilling life, a more productive and rewarding business, strengthened relationships, and a head-over-shoulders reputation for being upstanding? You need a bigger carrot on the stick, a bigger pot of gold at the end of the rainbow?

Does feeling better about yourself count?

Does  making a difference with your life count?

Ah, getting closer to your inner spirit and the heart of the matter?

Authenticity is seldom a birthright quality. It’s something we learn over years of observation, application of our gut instincts, and our interactions with others. So, start boosting your Authenticity Quotient by paying closer attention to saying what you mean and meaning what you say.

Ask those around you who you trust to tell you what animal or creature they associate most with you. And, VERY important to preserving your trust relationship, do not argue or rebuttal their responses. Take it in. Take it on the chin. Smile and thank each person you ask. Then start to process what you learn.

Do you get responses like Saint Bernard (perhaps because you’re always rescuing others?) or Shepard (because you’re always herding people together or team-building?), or how authentic do you think a snake or fox (or worm?) might suggest? Cats of every type and size are generally considered sneaky (and some, vicious).

Elephant could imply steadiness or dependability (or that you’re a Republican frontrunner). A donkey or mule could mean your stubbornness prevails. A new, eager-to-please puppy will be seen as more authentic than a snapping turtle, an alligator, a shark. You can imagine the rest.

Does this prove or disprove authenticity? Of course not, but it will give those who may be unsure about how them come accross to others, some clue about how they are perceived. And perceptions are facts! 

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Hal@Businessworks.US

Open  Minds  Open  Doors

Many thanks for your visit and God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Turning prospects

into customers

means leading

with your soul

. . . not your mouth.

Not a whole lot happening with accounts receivable, eh? Welcome to the cusp of The Great Obama Depression. As many business owners keep stumbling along, muttering to themselves that they’ll vote for the Aflac Duck if he can beat Obama (and, hey, who knows?), many others have given up wallowing in self-pity, in favor of enlightenment.

What exactly does this mean? There’s a new found awareness that prospects are not whipping out their wallets just because you tell them how great you are or how great they are, or just because you map out all the logical, rational features of your products and services.

People have not stopped buying with their emotions just because incompetent government, union thugs, and big corporations are heartless and have no clue about how to create real jobs, and really restore our economy.  

Every purchase

–including those that 

seem most rational–

is emotionally triggered.

It’s human nature to want to be sold, to want to have someone show you how what you want is what you need. But you can’t accomplish this with the words you say anywhere near as effectively as you can with the actiojns you take. As a writer, I hate to admit that, but words can only lead someone to your door. Actions make the sale.

What kinds of actions? Authentic ones. Sincere ones. Actions grounded in genuineness vs. sound bites and photo ops and slaps on the back. It’s called “leading with your soul” which means that when you effectively put yourself in your prospect’s shoes and see things from the prospect’s perspective, you are practicing empathy. Empathy sells.

Makes sense, doesn’t it?  When you buy something from a sales representative, odds are overwhelmingly in favor of you actually buying into the rep’s attitude. And, in fact, the more you keep hearing kiss-up statements, the less interested you become in purchasing, at least from that platitude attitude. Instead, you go down the street!

Who needs a salesperson filled with pandering, patronizing remarks and preoccupied with ticking off product or service features? You want someone to show you passion and conviction and authenticity.

You need only to have

an emotional buying motive

trigger pulled to justify your

wallet on the counter or

your pen on the dotted line.

So surely you don’t think you’re any different because you own or run a business? That’s exactly the point. You ARE no different. Everyone is unique, yet we are also all predictable when it comes to what happens psychologically when we make a purchase. Our egos get pumped up. Even a can of beans is an emotional purchase.

Emotional buying motives are ignited by exceptional and sincere service and by positive (and contagious) attitudes. So, how do you think you come across to prospects? When did you last ask one? Is your ego keeping you from learning more about yourself and what it takes to be enlightened and exuberant?

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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!

 If you’re not going to

marry your business,

don’t get engaged to it!

America’s abysmal unemployment situation has inadvertently spawned a burst of fledgling entrepreneurial enterprises. It’s been: “Outta work? So what. Who needs all that aggrevation anyway? I’ll start my own business.”

        ~~~~~~~

If you are caught up in this thinking, un-catch yourself! If you’re telling yourself you can start a little business and still work 9-5 with weekends, sick days, personal days, vacation, and holidays off, you might as well be living on Mars. I’m not saying don’t do it. I’m saying don’t be disillusioned from the start.

Business Ownership

is a marriage.

If you’re not willing to accept the fact that you and your new business venture are going to have to eat together, sleep together and get along with each other 24/7 for a number of years, don’t buy an engagement ring, get down on one knee and pop the question –OR plan the wedding and fantasize the honeymoon–  to start with!

Even if the bantered-around figures that claim 9 out of 10 businesses fail in the first 11 years (and don’t break even financially for 6 years) are only half right, consider your odds for success realistically.

Every new business idea  

is a great idea

before the doors open.

With a super unique product or service and a ton of investment money, with a brother-in-law accountant and an uncle lawyer and your spouse cheering from the sidelines, your chances for survival (nevermind success) are still practically non-existant if you are thin-skinned, hard-headed, inattentive or ungrateful, and that’s just for openers.

The attentiveness to detail, and to every single exchange with every single person every single day, plus the ultimate responsibility for paying every bill and returning every investment (plus a return ON every investment) that were none of your province or burden as an employee rest squarely on every business owner’s shoulders.

Spare yourself the agony of separation and divorce and probable bankruptcy if you’re thinking you can just gloss over or dismiss or delegate stuff and concentrate on sales or production or IT or some other aspect of your dream. The sad truth is that no successful entrepreneur can concentrate on any single aspect and make money.

Successful small business

owners and operators

concentrate on all of

what they’re doing

 . . . all of the time.

Operations, finance, sales and marketing, cashflow, legalities, IT, distribution, partnerships, collaborations, staffing, service,   innovation, creativity, leadership, suppliers, product and service knowledge, and industrial/professional/community relations are all equally important!

So, what was it that grandpa used to say? “Look before you leap!”??? If you’re intent on charging into your own business, do it with your eyes (and ears) open. Reality beats fantasy hands down. For better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health . . .

Of course if you’re not ready for marriage (or your hands are already full with the family you have), there’s nothing wrong with using your ambitions and skills to find another, and hopefully better, job than the one you’ve left behind that prompted you to think a business startup would be a piece of cake. It can be if you’re a baker!

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 Hal@Businessworks.US

Open Minds Open Doors

Many thanks for your visit and God Bless You.

 Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Operating

a small business in 

times of personal trouble…

The most frequent consulting calls I get are from business owners who are experiencing personal emotional trauma, and who are trying to either ignore or bull their way through the upsets without acknowledging them.

Many talk and act as if they’re sizing up my marketing experience, but what they really want to know is if I can help them personally.

They throw little test questions out: “Uh, have you ever worked with partners who don’t always get along?” or “Have you had to deal with older family members who started a business, then turned it over to younger relatives?” or “How would you increase sales in a business where the boss’s wife had alcohol or drug problems?”

Some, of course, cut right to the chase: “I just got out of rehab and still have panic attacks, but nobody else can run the business; what can you do to help?” or “My partner is the money behind this business, and he’s an idiot and we’re on the verge of breaking up; can you help pick up our sales while we divorce?”

I have a little reminder note pasted on my workstation:  “Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.” You may have to become as old as I am to really appreciate the truth of this, but if you ARE less than 150, I can assure you that truer words were never spoken.

And there’s no discrimination that disallows business owners. We all carry our own burdens through life. How we strike a balance with the businesses we run makes the difference between success and failure. Dealing effectively with the whole mess, time after time, depends on how effectively we balance our own emotions.

Dismissing, or disregarding the reality of what we face accomplishes nothing, and often makes things worse. Jumping headlong into upsets is a get-screwed-up-quick formula that can wreak havoc on both the business and your personal life. Balance means holding the ship steady through stormy weather regardless of preferences.

In other words, this isn’t football,

and acting headstrong can get

 us sacked on the one-yard line 

We need to be able to put aside our emotional attachments; we need to be able to let go of some of the ties that bind. We need to accept that we don’t always have all the answers and be willing to go with the flow when problems overwhelm us. Can it be God or an inner spirit challenging us to rise to the occasion? Is it a test of your mettle?

“If you can get through this, you can get through anything,” my wise old uncle used to say, but he never mentioned that there would be a least hundreds of “this” times.

Life is about challenge. So is entrepreneurship. Just make sure you keep your personal life in balance with your family and those around you. If you stand tall in troubled waters, the business will heal itself. Where to start? Try some deep breathing for openers, and then begin to sort out and prioritize before you take action.   

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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!

How to run a business

while your way of life

is under attack . . .

It’s no secret. Unless you’ve been away visiting friends and family on Jupiter, there’s no way you could not be aware of the increasingly rapid emergence of America’s Socialistic policies.

There is no way you could not be aware of the union-spawned turmoil government has predictably forced upon a scared, angry, disenfranchised, and economically fragile general public.

Doubtful? Just look around you. Go sit in a crowded place and just watch. See the faces filled with looks of worry, dispair, anguish, frustration, wrinkled brows, downturned mouths, sad eyes, slumped shoulders. Listen to the moans and groans and nervous laughter. 

Our way of life is under attack.

Our sense of patriotism and morals, the faith we’ve always had in ourselves and the small businesses and professional practices we own and manage is being undermined daily by our own government and so-called leaders.

We have a White House and Senate tilted so heavily to the left that there is no more balance in American lives. There is no longer room for God? Parental respect? Small business as a way of life?

So how do we get past present union and government attempts to disrupt and destroy small business?

It’s shape-up or ship-out time!

Assess where you are. Be honest with yourself as to how you evaluate and measure your buiness progress and losses. Decide how to make the best use of what you have. (You’ve already been doing this or you wouldn’t be alive right now, so keep at it, and accelerate your efforts.)

THINK IN DIFFERENT BOXES!

Continue to NOT trust the government we’ve been saddled with. It hasn’t proven itself worthy of being trusted.

In other words, even though WE all know that small business creation of new jobs is the only answer to turning the economy — don’t create new jobs! Why? Why create new jobs simply to turn around and be penalized for it?

That government/union olive branch you reach to accept will be followed by a slashing machete.

Promises of immediate help are two-faced. They are laced with quiet admissions that long-term financial punishment is inevitable.

Sure, go ahead. Create new jobs now and get lower taxes and some make-believe incentives for doing that now. Then what? Feel that stab wound in your back? Next year or the year after (the identical dynamics of Obamacare), the great new jobs you created will come back in spades into your wallet with make-up-the-difference tax increases (plus!) and even more intrusive regulations.

What else is there to do? Remember November 6, 2012.  

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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! 

Empty Promises

May Win Votes,

But Not Sales!

If you can’t deliver the goods or services on time and as expected –price, performance, and warranty-wise– don’t even discuss the possibilities. Send your prospective customer/client instead to your top competitor. In fact, force yourself to even go to the trouble of introducing her or him by phone or email, or in-person whenever possible.

Hand ’em over on a silver platter

(along with a sincere smile and backpat)!

Why? Because down the road a piece (you know how far that is, right?), that person may not remember where or who she/he bought from, but you can bet your bippy that that astonished and pleased customer will never forget you for the personalized introduction to help ensure a sense of purchase satisfaction.

Remember that EVERY purchase is an emotional one, with an emotional trigger clicking into an emotional buying motive. And you will have just pulled that trigger. So the other guy got the sale. So what? In all honesty, you couldn’t have fulfilled the customer’s request anyway.

To top it off, I guarantee you that the story of you going out of your way even though you weren’t making the sale will get told to at least ten other people and each of them will tell it to ten more. For a couple of minutes of your time, you will have created 100 positive impressions!

Imagine how many people will be praising your integrity and building your reputation when you choose to make a consistent practice of focusing completely on the customer’s needs, instead of your own! 

Is this a recommendation to grow your business by sending prospects to the competition? Good heavens, no! The point is that it’s better to help people find what they want when you can’t produce it yourself than to try manipulating prospect intents, altering what you have beyond performance reality, or –worst of all– promise and not deliver.

Performance is the key word. And honesty is still the best policy. Oh, and you’ll never need (like car dealers) to talk about either performance or honesty, because people will simply know about it when your actions match your words.

AAAACK! Too Late!

Okay, if it’s too late for all that good stuff

because you already screwed up, take heart.

All is not lost.

Let’s say you’re in the roofing installation business, and you promised a prospect that you’d deliver a three trillion dollar debt ceiling with insulated, soundproof ceiling tile panels by Wednesday, and it’s Monday with no debt ceiling supplier deal in sight. You now know you should never have promised it and your knees are shaking.

Go back to “GO” and own up. Tell the truth that you over-committed and promised what you shouldn’t have. Apologize. Be sincere and empathetic. Put yourself in the customer’s (or employee’s) shoes. Listen carefully. But stand tall and don’t ooze. Offer to do whatever it takes to make amends (and be sure to follow through with overkill effort!).

If doing this results in you suffering a loss, suck it up! Bite the bullet! Eat the expense! Write it off to stupidity. Lesson learned. Time to move forward. But remember that the WAY you handle the mess and the integrity you demonstrate (even after demonstrating no integrity!) adds up to creating a new opportunity out of an old problem.

It may be true that “nothing succeeds like success,” but it’s equally true that nothing succeeds like telling the truth in failure, and making good on a failed promise. 

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  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!