Product/Service Knowledge

Does Not A Sales Star Make!

     What makes entrepreneurs and sales professionals successful is having the ability to go waaay beyond the point of just knowing about the products and services they represent.

     It takes a very rare “geek,” for example (e.g., Bill Gates, Steve Jobs), to be able to come up out of the techie hole and have a clear vision of everything else that surrounds her or him.

     I’m not suggesting the need to be an expert at everything, but to instead appreciate and value what’s there (in your market, in your industry, in your universe), and know when to call on (and how to manage) others’ skills.  

     This “failure shortcoming” is unfortunately not something that’s easily adjustable because it’s more a product of the system than of the individual. It is the single greatest failing of academia that students are rarely if ever taught how to use what they’ve been taught to know.

     While touching on our misguided educational system, I should add that the best college for successful business career preparation (besides the proverbial “school of hard knocks”) is the one that fosters student internship and cooperative education programs and/or real-life experience opportunities. A taste of reality always beats none.

It is the single greatest failing of academia that students are rarely if ever taught how to use what they’ve been taught to know.”

     Why should this matter? Having a single purpose and collective goals is one thing, but no business is successful that is run with closed-minded fantasy-land controls. Product / service knowledge is just one part of the success equation. Having the vision and organization skills to apply that knowledge is what counts.

     No sales professional has ever made it on having total command alone of her or his company product or service features. No one “buys” features. Buyers may justify their purchases by itemizing features, but what makes the sale are emotional triggers to benefits. Product and service knowledge can only serve as the launchpad for those triggers. 

     What are the answers? I believe they vary with each set of circumstances, and I don’t pretend to have all the answers … BUT:

     I CAN tell you that if you and your sales message have been heavily focused on what goes into a product or service and how it’s made, and you see all the guys down in the trenches (the scientist /technician / analyst types) smiling up at you and nodding agreement, you need to adjust what you’re communicating to the rest of the world!

     Like the dentist ads promoting mucosal blade inserts, which would only have a recognition factor and be a point of interest among other dentists, many businesses go down the tubes grasping for receptivity to jargon that only they and a handful of staff (and competitive!) “experts” understand.

     Real Business “Power”— the Power of entrepreneurial and sales success, comes not from merely knowing — comes from knowing who, how, when, and where to put the knowledge that you have to work.    

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Politically Correct Crap

Has Gone Over The Top!

     It’s really time for small businesses to rebel.

     It’s time to show the corporate giants standing in line waiting for another surge of taxpayer dollar bailouts that their small-minded insistence on following small-minded government politicians (and even smaller-minded, major-media wimps) is wrong because Christmas is Christmas is Christmas. Period.

     It is what it is: a Christian celebration of the birth of Christ.

     It is NOT a generic convoluted cluster of “holidays.” It is NOT Hanukkah, Ramadan and 39 other special celebrations all thrown together in one big New York City melting pot. This is the CHRISTMAS Season!

     You’re not likely to toss all your meat. fish, vegetables, bread, and dessert into one big bowl and call it dinner, right? So why should anyone insist on combining all religious celebrations into one and calling Christmas and the Christmas Season “Holidays” as indistinguishable from the others?

     The answer: Big business and government and the media have become so superficially multi-cultural and culturally-diverse conscious (and more sensitive to unfounded anti-discrimination lawsuits than to the Christian religious ideals and annual celebration of the birth of Baby Jesus) that they are petrified at the idea of calling Christmas by its name for fear of offending those who provide handouts and political favors.

     It’s not just time to put Christ back in Christmas, it’s time to SAY “Merry Christmas!” without being afraid of offending someone. Anyone who IS offended by that is as ignorant, insensitive, misguided, and self-righteous as those who would have us take “In God We Trust” out of our nation’s pledges, proclamations, and currency.

     Bottom line: Stand up to those who try to make you feel guilty (or who are simply too dumb to know better) by wishing your customers and suppliers “MERRY CHRISTMAS!”

     If those you do business with want to wish you Happy Hanukkah or whatever it is that one wishes for Ramadan, accept it and thank them and wish it back to them. But let’s not encourage any more “PC” thinking about something so sacred, and so much a part of American tradition … for even those who are NON-Christians!

     Be reminded that “MERRY CHRISTMAS!” carries with it implications of commitment to goodwill and to loving and respecting one another. Jews and responsible Muslims share that thinking. There’s no need to feel apologetic for wishing someone “Merry Christmas!” no matter what his or her religion. 

     I have had a great many Jewish friends (including quite a few who are orthodox) and never knew even one who took offense at being wished Merry Christmas. Most, in fact, have always replied in kind, or with a cheerful: “And Happy Hanukkah to you!” 

     Big business and politics have no place in dictating change in objects of religious respect, and need to butt out! Small business owners and managers can help make a difference by simply honoring the Christmas Season as they have since childhood in wishing one and all a “MERRY CHRISTMAS!” and by suggesting those employees who agree, to do the same. 

     It is the joyful spirit of what the message represents that counts.    

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Entrepreneur money

goes round and round.

    Yup! You “coont effin spelt enterprenewer, and now y’all is one.” Well, just maybe there’s some chance that you could have also had a few other misconceptions about the title. But you’re probably still smarter than the rest of the business world. 

     Or perhaps you’re one of those amazed and astonished corporate types who’s literally rolling in misconceptions about entrepreneurs, and likes to cluck your tongue at even the thought of such low-life business people who haven’t one iota of strategic planning in their blood.

     Well, hey, YOU might be wondering about how the entrepreneurial thing is going right about now in this government-fantasized period of financial boom that even the neighborhood corporate mogul knows is nowhere near reality.  

     Well, here’s something to keep in mind that very few people except entrepreneurs know about entrepreneurs: Entrepreneurs only take reasonable risks! Whaaaa? How could that be? You trying to say those reckless spender-types have a sense of reason? Vision? Purpose?

     Actually, I am convinced that government institutions and agencies along with corporate giants are the only entities in existence (well, maybe academia too) that throw around money they don’t have, and insist on taking risks that would be unreasonable to a three year-old.

     But what do I know? I’ve only notched a few hundred business startups and taught entrepreneurship in college, and managed to squeeze in some significant years of service to both corporate giant and government (and academic) incompetents

     I observed enough to appreciate that no entrepreneur worth her or his salt would be caught dead in those suffocating environments for any longer than it takes to escape to lives of business independence and self-sufficiency. 

     Those experiences also underscored for me the absolute sanity of individuals that most of the rest of the world considers to be insane business venture leaders. Entrepreneurs are postured as being filled with cockamamie ideas and always juggling money deals while straddling shifting sands. Not a pretty picture.

     Truth: Entrepreneurs are the world’s most genuine and productive catalysts of change.

     Historically, Entrepreneurs have always been the movers and shakers of society. They still are today, and will continue to be far into the future. They alone know how to turn on a dime, how to respond to market fluctuations, to competitors, to innovation, to the whole mindset of making ideas work.

     Entrepreneurs, again contrary to popular opinion, are not driven by profit motives. They are driven by a burning desire to marshal whatever forces necessary to make their ideas work.

     That pursuit alone is so staggering in so many quarters that money simply appears and flies at them — heads down, charging forward — while they are in the make-it-work process. Yet we are actually seeing more entrepreneurs distance themselves from investors who today seek immediate ROI and hold out no regard for authenticity of pursuits.

     When we finally ever DO see this economy turn, remember the impetus didn’t come from government or corporate giants. They haven’t a clue. If you want to appreciate financial upswings, thank an entrepreneur!                                                                                                                        

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No Room In The Inn for

Obsessive-Compulsives

• Cleaning and grooming, such as washing hands, showering or brushing teeth over and over again
• Checking drawers, door locks and appliances to be sure they are shut, locked or turned off
• Repeating, such as going in and out of a door, sitting down and getting up from a chair, or touching certain objects several times
• Ordering and arranging items in certain ways
• Counting over and over to a certain number
• Saving newspapers, mail or containers when they are no longer needed
• Seeking constant reassurance and approval

     What causes OCD?  There’s no single, proven cause. Some research shows that it may have to do with brain chemicals that carry messages from one nerve cell to another. One of these chemicals, serotonin, helps keep people from repeating the same behaviors over and over again. Someone with OCD may not have enough serotonin. Many people with OCD can function better when they take medicines that increase the amount of serotonin in their brain.

     Are other illnesses associated with OCD?  People who have OCD often have other kinds of anxiety, like phobias (such as fear of spiders or fear of flying) or panic attacks. They may also have depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), an eating disorder, or a learning disorder such as dyslexia. Having one or more of these disorders can make diagnosis and treatment more difficult, so it’s important to talk to a medical doctor about any symptoms present.

Source:  www.FamilyDoctor.org  and

The American Academy of Family Physicians

Are your customers

your personal Guests?

     You wouldn’t have your personal guests sit  in a waiting area for 30, 60, 90 minutes without popping in periodically to say hello, chit-chat, explain the delay, see if they want or need anything. Why would you do that with customers, clients, patients, passengers?

     With so much business ownership and management effort  needing to be diverted to overcoming economic doldrums, and the renewed focus we all share to beef up sales and innovation these days, it’s easy to lose sight of those who wait for us.

     No, this is not an issue that’s slam-dunk resolved  with waiting and reception room stacks of dog-eared magazines, old newspapers, stale coffee, staticky music or a TV channel selector riveted to some ridiculous, insultingly manipulative station like MSNBC or CNN or ABC or CBS or NBC (instead of, for example, something more truthful and less stressful, like Nature, History, Animal, or even Weather Channel).

     Unfortunately,  these token tools used to distract those who wait are not only annoying and stressing up your visitors, they are becoming more pervasive; it’s not just car dealerships and medical offices anymore. Even restaurants have joined the news bombardment parade.

     I can’t think of a less appetizing setting  than to be served lunch while facing an all-news TV station showing live pictures of some bloody tragedy. What can someone possibly be thinking when they put that channel on? [Obviously, they’re not.]

     Oh, yeah, and it’s like a whole  get-ready-for-your-blood-pressure-and-heartbeat-readings deal while waiting for the doctor; if you didn’t have a stress ailment before you got there… 

     If the people waiting were friends or family members,  would you extend them such small insignificant “courtesies,” or make a point of personally visiting (maybe with cold bottled water and fresh warm cookies as one office does routinely) to keep them posted about how much more time you guess it might be? Would you at least send someone out to socialize with them?

     Here’s how I see it.  When people are waiting to spend their hard-earned dollars on your products or services, they deserve to be waited on hand and foot. They are also giving up personal time in their lives (that they’ll never get back) to sit and stand around because they are sold on and believe in what your business or professional practice has to offer.

     These people are your greatest asset.  They love you to start with, or they wouldn”t be there. When you treat them with tokenism and no personal attentiveness, you are essentially letting them know that you and your business are not worthy of their trust and confidence and patronage.

     What’s the answer? Be grateful.  They are giving you the most precious possession they have — their time –which is finite, limited, and irreplaceable. Appreciate what you have.

     If you have customers, clients, patients, passengers  who are willing to wait to spend their money with you, you are truly blessed, and those people need to know how much you value their sacrifice of time.

Perhaps you’ve missed or forgotten that

your best customers are those who wait.

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“It’s not MY job!”

     Ever heard this before? Or is it just my imagination? Odds are someone in your business either says something like this, or has the underlying attitude but doesn’t express it openly.

     The person who rejects  awareness, spontaneity and (friendship / partner / spousal) intimacy also rejects the responsibility for shaping her or his own life. She or he is someone who thinks of him or herself as either lucky or unlucky, assuming without question that it’s meant to be and: can’t or shouldn’t be changed, or that only ______ can change it.

 Sound familiar? This is the same individual who

     routinely proclaims (or thinks): “It’s not MY job!”

     By contrast, the autonomous person  is concerned with “being.” He or she allows his/her own capacities to unfold and encourages others to do the same. These are the kinds of individuals who project their own possibilities into the future as realistic goals which give aim and purpose to their lives.

     They sacrifice  only when they are giving up a lesser value for a greater value according to their own personal value systems. They are not concerned with getting more, but with being more. 

My philosophy is that not only are you responsible for your life, but doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.”

— OPRAH WINFREY

     As a business owner or manager, and especially in today’s economy,  you really can’t afford to have people working for you with this attitude. E V E R Y person in your business needs to accept responsibility for doing whatever needs to be done whenever it needs to be done as long as he or she has the ability to do it.

     But this doesn’t mean that you need to be a shrink  with employees who evidence a not-my-job mentality. It DOES suggest that you may want to think hard about keeping this kind of person on payroll.

     If it’s a locked-in situation  and you can’t let go of her or him right now, set a deadline for change, explain it clearly and gently, then teach by example. Do recognize that it takes courage for someone like that to rise to the occasion, and reward any evidence of attempts with “pat-on-the-back” comments and encouragement to keep at it. 

     You’ll always get more of what you genuinely

appreciate, praise and reward.   

With special thanks to human relations/communications consultants Muriel James and Dorothy Jongeward for the inspiration and adaptations from their classic book BORN TO WIN: Transactional Analysis with Gestalt Experiments    

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Your Laundry? No.

But Your News? Yes!

     Dear Boss – No, your employees are not entitled to inspect your laundry,  but they do need to be empowered to accept and process your ideas and plans, and be encouraged to contribute according to their experience, skills, and capabilities. 

     If you’re playing this  (seemingly never-ending) ongoing small business economic disaster news close to the vest, and not sharing what’s happening with those around you,  you’re cutting off your nose to spite your face . . . you may be missing a unique opportunity to take advantage of free, life-saving input from those with invested time and energy. 

     If you’re keeping to yourself  where you see things going, and not discussing your ideas for how you’re going to get there, you are shooting yourself in the foot. (And, psssssst: no nose and no foot can make things even tougher than they already are.)

“As the economy continues to shift, keeping employees up-to-date on how the company is responding, and how they are affected, will help insure against their becoming demoralized and disconnected.

“Effective communication helps engage employees, and that has positive implications for productivity and the bottom line.” 

–Kathryn Yates, global leader of communication consulting at Watson Wyatt

     You have chosen to own and/or manage a business or part of one.  Along with that choice comes significant leadership responsibility. Along with leadership responsibility comes the obligation to maintain and encourage 2-way communications with all those who report to you. 

     This is not a responsibility to take lightly.  Keeping those around you informed of what’s going on, spelling out for them how you see what’s going on, and where you aim to take things is the kind of stuff that makes or breaks the backbone of a business.

     Notice I said “2-way”  which means listening as intently as telling. It means weighing, assessing, and actively considering the suggestions of those around you. They are, remember, around you because you chose for them to be around you and you did that because you respect and trust them.

     So? So respect and trust them!  Accept that your people are as invested in keeping their jobs and growing the business as you are. They may not match your personal commitment level, but give them the benefit of doubt when they have ideas and suggestions. You might even learn something that makes a difference! 

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Size up the eyeballs and

handshakes, or split!

     It doesn’t matter  whether you’re talking about a distributorship, franchise, equity partnership, or strategic alliance, a commission plan, or a creative property royalty arrangement. If you’re considering any kind of business partnership, go the reality route. Nothing else will do.

Life is not long enough for you to waste any of it on people who don’t walk their talk.

You don’t have to love someone  to do business with him or her. You don’t have to agree with some one’s religious, political or sexual persuasion if there’s no bearing on your business. But you owe it to yourself, and your family (who will suffer from a bad partnership decision) to do some due diligence.

     Take advantage of every opportunity  (including the more obvious — but surprisingly seldom invoked — Google) to check out who and whom you’re thinking about dealing with. No, you probably don’t need a CIA or FBI report.

     And some one’s credit history  should have nothing to do with the creative services you may be looking for, anymore than wanting to know what high school that a board-certified physician may have graduated from, or the disorderly conduct charges filed against some one’s college student son on homecoming weekend.

     In other words, decide what’s really relevant  to the relationship you’re weighing before you start digging into directions that waste time and effort and money and are not truly important in the grand scheme of things. “Chemistry” for example, always counts! 

     Meeting someone face-to-face,  belly-to-belly, eyeball-to-eyeball, one-on-one –and physically shaking hands– is the only way to enter a partnership agreement with any reasonable degree of confidence. Think of it as a chance to enhance your professional judgment. 

     It’s not a 100% lock,  but it will certainly serve to eliminate at least 50% of the quacks and maniacs (yes, both exist; and yes, both can be very convincing on the phone and via email; and yes, the more talented you are, the more likely those types are to turn up in your backyard)!

     If you’ve reached a point of initiating serious business pursuits with another person or group you’ve never actually met, work out a way to get together personally before making any written or verbal contractual-type commitments. Be willing to hop a car or plane and get a firsthand impression of what your prospective partner is all about.

     Restaurant settings can be particularly revealing.  Eating habits, preferences, pace, and posture paint one picture. How the other person or persons deal with the restaurant staff paints another. Be careful of anyone who orders more than one alcoholic drink in this setting.

     Be skeptical until proven otherwise.  In the end, you’ll be glad you were careful and insisted on a reality meeting with your virtual partner.   

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Hal@Businessworks.US  302.933.0116 

  Open minds open doors. 

 Thanks for visiting and God bless you. 

   Make today a GREAT day for someone! 

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?                                                                                                                                   

# # #               

“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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