STOP HIRING CONSULTANTS!!

Doctors know where they’ve been

but they don’t know

where they’re going!

Today’s medical professionals are strapped to a rudderless ship at sea that’s being sucked into a raging storm.

Some politicos would have us believe that the scandalous fifteen-thousand-page Obamacare program (and when, by the way, was the last time anyone you know read 15,000 pages of anything?!) need not be such a shocking insult to healthcare consumers because after all, it helps “less fortunate” people to get medical care.

Steamrollered through an inept Congress, Obamacare appears to have little if anything to do with the realities of healthcare. Instead, Obamacare hints at having everything to do with the crippling economic and personal freedom limitations brought on by the relentless White House pursuit of dictating increased government controls on American lives.

The end result? We will definitely end up with fewer competent physicians.

And those who remain will clearly not be providing adequate care –regardless of competency–  because of the restrictions Obamacare piles on top of the restrictions already imposed on them that limit their ability to deliver meaningful health services.

But computerization is what tightens the noose around healthcare necks, some say. Not so. The mismanagement and misappropriation of administrative computerization advances by interfering and uninformed government misfits and ignorant insurance providers is what is at the root of today’s healthcare delivery shortcomings.

The de-humanizing of humanizing services is the characterization that uninformed and manipulative individuals, agencies, and organizations have wrought as they’ve twisted administrative computerization advances into shortcut invasions of patient and physician privacy. Have we lost even having thoughts of human dignity?

When “DOCTOR’S ORDERS” becomes “DOCTORS ORDERS” (as in orders issued to doctors by the White House) to conduct patient gun ownership surveys to build a bigger “Big-Brother-Watching” database universe designed to gain yet more government control, do you think this might possibly get just a bit in the way of doctors performing healthcare services?

Of course EMR (electronic medical records) and EHR (electronic health records) have succeeded at putting patient care over paper care. But are these important advances enough to be really helping doctors to know where they’re going?

And the Internet has fully armed healthcare consumers to be better prepared to understand and manage their own healthcare issues, to be more informed about diagnostics and treatments, and to work more productively with their doctors. But are these advances enough to be able to really help doctors to know where they’re going?

The whole lean organization, lean management fad (where did Quality Circles go?) may be a solution, but is not THE solution. It is simply a band-aid acknowledgement that things have gotten so bad, we can no longer afford for the physician to spare a minute or two extra with each patient and patient family to help heal, and help ensure and reassure a sense of well-being.

More dollars are saved. Care is more efficient. But –at the ultimate point of care– doctors don’t get to spend more time with their patients, so is this increased efficiency really enough to help doctors know where they’re going?

Being preoccupied with efficiency necessitates lower levels of individual healthcare delivery. And last time I looked, healthcare was a profession dedicated to individual care. Perhaps it’s time to redefine the word “care”? The bottom line is that doctors are literally trapped.

Adherence to rules and regulations designed to increase control over their skills and abilities to earn livings commensurate with their training and societal value is squashing the very lifeblood out of healthcare. And Obamacare will surface as the culprit when it’s too late to matter — unless enough small business owners and practice administrators and doctors start to make waves

. . . NOW.

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Hal@Businessworks.US   302.933.0911

“Whaddayadonfermelately?”

In today’s instant gratification world, many professional healthcare practices, B to B firms, and customer service business owners hear some version of this question with increasing regularity. Not a bad thing to be asked. Huh? Well. because there’s always room for an answer when you know what the question is.

In fact, NOT hearing some version of “Whaddayadonfermelately?” is far worse than being asked because the unasked question itself portends a “not much” answer.

Savvy proactive service business owners and managers never allow any form of this question to surface in the first place. Their secret? Regular, ongoing “How Goes It?” inventory exchanges. Meetings and discussions (note NOT text messages or emails, which are too superficial) that chunk up and evaluate workflow, deliverables, and performance.

These usually daily or weekly assessments (which generally best occur on Monday mornings to set up the week ahead) are typically followed by a call to action — adjustments in the timing, speed, quality, quantity, agility, relevance, attitude, goals, roles, responsibilities . . . whatever steps will help ensure productive forward motion from point to point.

And when you were a kid (no doubt possessing prototypical entrepreneurial characteristics such as resentment of authority in school and reluctance to follow rules), you might have thought report cards were nonsense — or perhaps unpleasant harbingers of parental lectures?

But “report card” dynamics in service businesses –especially when they’re self-imposed– have saved many client accounts and relationships from collapse. Instead, as  some family elder likely forewarned us as children when we had clearly overstepped or under-achieved, it’s a good thing to “nip it in the bud” when it comes to following a problem direction.

When you, the service provider, take the initiative to nip problems “in the bud,” by requesting regular, ongoing feedback and assessment from your client/customer/patient, you are exercising a form of positive preventive maintenance. And this is not even to mention the other values attached to the client’s impression of your commitment.

Asking for feedback is an admirable posture all by itself but, more importantly, you are opening the communication expressway to allow for more give and take, and a healthier more communicative and more rewarding relationship that operates from a position of strength and confidence, instead of one of cowering and covering your butt.

How do YOU feel about doing business with s0meone who makes assumptions instead of asks? Or someone who disappears when the going gets tough or when you have issues to discuss? Hmmm?

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Hal@Businessworks.US    931.854.0474

 DON’T SURROUND YOURSELF

WITH YOUR SELF!

Besides the number one ailment of entrepreneurs –being under-capitalized– a close second place is awarded to the All-American crushing entrepreneurial ego! This business venture is my idea. I can do it better than anybody. I want people working with me who will ask how high when I say “Jump!” Yup! BTLS (“Born To Lose Syndrome”) it’s called.

Generally speaking, and it’s unfortunate, most people who start, buy or inherit a business or professional practice tend to think the opposite of proven success experience, at least at the outset, and completely blow off the idea of hiring and surrounding themselves with those who are better, smarter, wiser and more experienced than they are. 

Don’t rely on my opinion. Ask any successful business owner or manager you know. You’ll find that those who truly make a difference with the pursuit of their ideas are those who surround themselves with excellence. It’s the mark of a true leader. If you have an ego problem, work at it. If you don’t, it will kill your business or practice.

Accept the fact that someone who has studied and practiced law or accounting or IT or training or marketing or operations, or finance is probably better equipped to make and recommend decisions in their areas of core competence than you are, even though you are great, have great ideas, and are probably a better salesperson than you could ever hire. 

Rule of thumb for successful startups and departmental streamlining: Find and hire the best, smartest people you can in every area of the business that you do not have exceptional command of. Support them. Encourage them. Challenge them. Reward them. And, above all, respect them and listen hard to their recommendations.

DON’T SURROUND YOURSELF

WITH YOUR SELF!

Although it is commonly misunderstood –and many attribute the categorization of being “a jack of all trades” to the word, “entrepreneurship”– entrepreneurship is in fact a really unique form of leadership. It’s unique because it carries the added burden and challenge of being creative while it benefits by the opportunities that creativity produces.

Carry, in other words, entrepreneurial spirit into all that you do while you drop the limitations that entrepreneurial ego fosters. Surround yourself with high quality, high energy people who know more than you and focus –not on competing with them, but–  on being their leader and the spokesperson for your brand. Success will come MUCH quicker.

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Hal@Businessworks.US    931.854.0474

LEADERSHIP STARTS

WITHOUT FOLLOWERS

Now what exactly do I mean by such an apparent contradiction? Answer: That leadership begins (and thrives) with attitude. “Yeah, Hal, right! Sounds great, but what kind of attitude and HOW does someone get it? Like it falls from the sky, or what?” Good questions. No it doesn’t “fall from the sky,” but it does begin at the beginning.

Leadership begins at the beginning, without a following, without an entourage, without an expedition, without a master plan, without a goal line, and without intentions of superiority or competitiveness. Effective leadership starts simply, with a mindset that exudes integrity at every turn in the road.

Leadership starts with an attitude that explodes in words and actions which set examples. Exemplary words and actions– by their very nature, by their very implementation– attract the attentions and admiration of others. True leadership attitudes ignite, engage, motivate, and sustain without ever having to ask others to roll up their sleeves and dig in to work alongside you. When people step it up and rise to the occasion, others rise as well to follow.

A TRUE LEADER DOESN’T START OUT

WITH A GOAL TO BECOME A LEADER.

A true leader simply demonstrates the qualities of behavior that set her or him apart from the pack, but this is accomplished by taking action, not by talking about taking action, or by aiming to play a leadership role.

Neither do great presentation or oratory skills make a great leader. Walk the walk beats talk the talk. Track-records speak louder than words. Show me what you’ve done and show me how to do it are far more important follower requests than tell me how great you are.

Effective leaders are great activists who consistently strive to teach and motivate by quietly doing. He or she is a great innovator, and a great solutions creator who takes entrepreneurial pursuits to completion, who doesn’t stop short with an idea, and who thrives on the sense of accomplishment that accompanies each step of bringing an idea to fruition.

Leaders move constantly forward. They turn over every stone and readily adjust themselves, their approaches, and the processes they use along the way, unafraid of taking action without having all the information.

Focusing on the finish line is not leadership. Focusing on each step, as the fortune cookie might say, prevents one from falling on one’s face, and almost always wins the race. 

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Hal@TheWriterWorks.com     Open Minds Open Doors

BUSINESS & POLITICS DON’T MIX!

Best Advice: Speak out in private, but hold your tongue in public! Customers and others you do business with may or may not agree with your politics, but the odds appear overwhelming that they do not want to hear your political views as part of any business transaction.

Treat every opportunity to speak out in accusation of your political opponents or in defense of your political favorites as you might instinctively deal with dysfunctional elements of your own family at the Thanksgiving dinner table.

In other words, exercise greater caution, discretion and respect than you would normally be inclined to, for the welfare of the rest of your family, and for the betterment of your own well-being and stress level. Save confrontations for when you become a professional boxer or hockey star.

“But it’s my right, my privilege, and my responsibility to speak up!” Well, okay, you may think you’re entitled, even required, to express your personal political preferences. And you are certainly entitled to your opinions, but if you own or manage a business, there’s simply no room for political opinion!

Every time you open your political mouth, you risk losing a minimum of 100 customers because anyone who disapproves will tell ten others,who will each tell ten others. Can you afford this kind of loss?

How do I know all this? Because I’ve had a big political opinion mouth in one of my past lives and it cost me substantial business. “Who cares?” you might say. Well, it may be costing you too!

The problem is that while you may not care about someone who’s critical of you offering editorials– critical of your criticism, so to speak– you maybe need to care a great deal about someone who’s related to, or controlled by that individual, and there’s just no way to ever know when some big mouth comment will come back to haunt you.

Taking the low road is not always a bad thing. Low road activity is often read in a positive light by others. Non confrontative attitudes typically produce positive reputation assessments of virtue: “humble;” “reserved;” “rational;” “objective;” non judgemental;” and “thoughtful” come to mind. It’s the sign of someone who walks the talk!

So, now, even if I’m only half right, wouldn’t you prefer those kinds of reputation attributes to “opinionated;” and “loudmouthed;” and “narrow-minded;” and “confrontative;” and “pushy”?

Bottom Line:

Work for your favorite candidates,

but don’t bring your favorite candidates to work!  

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HAL ALPIAR Writer/Consultant 302.933.0911 TheWriterWorks.com, LLC

National Award-Winning Author & Brand Marketer – Record Client Sales

Open Minds Open Doors

When to personalize

your message?

Please. If you’re still asking this question, I hope someone else is doing your marketing for you. The answer of course, is “Always!” When do you NOT personalize a message? When you want no results!

Can any message that you ever receive (except maybe a threat or a summons ;<) be too personalized? Well how do you think your prospects feel when they get your emails and Tweets and direct mail addressed to: Dear Occupant, or Dear Computer User (Duh!), or Dear Follower, or Dear Homeowner, or Dear Friend, or Dear Voter?

You might ask instead:

Why would a business or professional practice

owner throw money out the window?

What’s in a name? It’s the most important thing you have! When a business or professional practice refuses to take the trouble or go to the expense to find out what it is, or refuses to use it in communicating, or won’t take the time and make the effort to spell it or say it correctly, that entity is not worth dealing with. Period. No exceptions.

“Dear Valued Customer”? Finger down throat! Pffffft! That’s BS and you know it! If you can’t be more personalized than that, you’re not serious about being in business. Get a government job! (Not much of anything needs to be personalized there.) If the customer is so “valuable,” prove the point; get it right!

Your prospects and customers are no different than you in how they perceive the integrity and authenticity of a business or professional practice based on the accuracy and diligence of how a communication is addressed. If your name is Smith and a message comes to you addressed to Smythe, are you about to open it or read any further? Of course not.

And if it’s pronounced “Smitt” on the phone

 . . .”CLICK! Buzzzzzz:

If you’d like to make a call, please hang up and . . .”

Making doubly sure of the exact accuracy of the name that you personalize (and address your communications to), no doubt takes longer and probably costs more, but–in the end–odds are it will get through and be noticed instead of being trashed without even being opened. Oh, and the more complicated the name is, the more likely you gain a friend by spelling it right!

This goes for email addresses and phone calls as well. You don”t know how to pronounce a name? Ask! There are enough tools available via Internet search engines today that there’s no longer any excuse for misrepresenting, mispronouncing, misdirecting, or misspelling a prospect or customer name, or title, or company affiliation. Personalizing your message sells!

If you, in other words, are reduced to having to say “Dear Friend,” be assured you are not. Stop wasting your time and money.

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HAL ALPIAR Writer/Consultant 302.933.0911 TheWriterWorks.com, LLC

National Award-Winning Author & Brand Marketer – Record Client Sales

Open Minds Open Doors

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Boasting your way along 

“the humble leader” line______

Maybe it’s a paradox, but it’s really not always a contradiction.

Being both assertive AND humble can work when personal authenticity is in the driver’s seat.  There’s a terrific website www.BizBrag.com that encourages business boasting because there are times when everyone needs to toot her or his own respective horn, and posting news releases on BizBrag makes it easy.

Of course, any news release content you post or create must be newsworthy and not overtly self-serving if there’s any expectation of actually getting traditional or online media coverage. And it should probably go without saying that the better the writing quality, the more likely a release is to gain exposure. Think about being an editor bombarded with hundreds of PR stories!

But speaking up for yourself is not bragging. And assertiveness is not aggression! Effective leaders are almost universally assertive in their thinking and behavior, and their boasting is usually limited to praising others–the teams they lead, the customers they serve, the competitors they battle with. And, therein (AHA!) lies “leadership humility.”

Anyone who tries to prompt business leaders to associate humility with milquetoast, hat-in-hand, apologetic, goody-two-shoes behavior is missing a lightbulb or two in the world of reality. No, this is not to suggest that those in leadership positions run around patting themselves on the back while giving themselves high-fives (making themselves likely candidates for chiropractic treatment), but it IS to say that taking a strong stand–internally and externally–is both healthy and necessary.

Here’s the bottom line: No one wants to hear about how great you think you are. No one cares. Get rid of the words that haunt braggadocio-minded grandstanders: Stop talking in terms of “I” “Me” “My” “We” “Our” and start addressing what customers and investors want to hear (The answer to “What’s in it for me?”) by talking in “You” and “Your” terms. “You get” beats “We are.”

A smile, a nod, a thank you are more than sufficient responses to a compliment or praise. Leave the leaping chest bumps and running wildly around the arena up to the Olympiads. Business people do not like business people who “talk themselves up.” Should customers and prospects know if you’ve won an award or recognition? Certainly, but don’t wear your medal to work or beat them over the head with your Oscar.

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302.933.0911                      Hal@TheWriterWorks.com

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Open Minds Open Doors

THINKING BIG WINS!

I see small businesses every day that think small and stay small:

Vehicles and signs and ads and websites that show phone numbers without area codes; radio and TV commercials that fail to say what town a business is in, or what the address is; owners who resist free global promotion opportunities (like Twitter and LinkedIn and Facebook and BizBrag) because they think of themselves as catering to small town communities and local markets.

There’s no surer way to guarantee staying small and never earning the big-time sales you’re capable of.

If you want to get big, STOP THINKING SMALL!

For many, small, local business is a great way of life and a totally satisfying experience, but for those who seek to grow and generate revenues worth writing home about, it may be time to open some doors in your brain and realize that your body, your life, and your business are what you think they are. (READ THAT AGAIN!) Whatever you think something is, it is.

If you think of yourself as fat, you are and will be fat. If you think of your life as happy, it is and will be happy. If you think of your business as growing and successful, guess what? So the question is not what’s wrong with the business or the economy or with  you? It is instead what are you imagining it (or yourself) to be? And, how can you change that?

Start with accepting the three realizations that:

1.  Thoughts are things and what you perceive is what you believe.

2.  You are what you think about.

3.  Your behavior (in this case, your ability to think differently about things) is a choice. 

Be a detective about yourself and your motives. Why would you choose to think and act small? If your answer sounds like an excuse, it probably is. Why would you choose to offer an excuse? What can you do –starting right now– to confront the reality of what you think you’re capable of, and go for it? What mental roadblocks are in the way? How can you remove them?

Why do you think top advertisers say things like “DO IT!” and “IT’S INSIDE YOU”? The old Eagles song, “Take it to the limit” is yet another reminder. You have the choice and can choose this very minute to change, to make a difference, to start thinking BIG and HAPPY and THIN or whatever it is that you want. Thinking hard and consistently yields results!

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Hal@Businessworks.US              931.854.0474

Guidance to 500+ Successful Business Startups

Creating Record-Sales for Clients Since 1981!

Writin’ Ain’t No Easy Job!

In case you thunk that writin’ business stuff be a snap, thunk agin! (And especially if you’re expecting an office assistant or website designer to be a writer!)

Oh, and just to kick it in gear, you might do the thunk agin part with a blank screen and a blank piece of paper in your face. Thirty years of business writing taught me that very few day-to-day business tasks are more challenging than performing a creative process that most people seem to think is simply a mechanical function. It’s not. Try it. Then be embarrassed.

Write a business plan for us, will you? I need it for an investor meeting next week. (Most effective business plans take months!) And, before you get started, knock out a couple of TV commercial scripts for the sale that’s coming up. (At least a few weeks, if there are expectations of having any impact.)

Oh, and we’ll probably need three or four blog posts (another week) and an online banner ad about that sale too (a couple of days). Will you also fit in a speech for me to give to the Roundtable Club? Say 25-30 minutes? (Another week!)

Sour grapes examples? No: Reality. If you own or operate a business and expect someone to write AND GET IT RIGHT, realize that the creative process doesn’t turn on and off like a water faucet. Effective writing is not about writing; it’s about RE-writing! RE-writing takes time and effort and knowledge and skill and experience. The simpler it is, the harder the task.

Also Reality: “Creative” people in business (or anywhere, for that matter) are more sensitive as a rule than say lawyers or accountants or investors or engineers. So –like flies– you’ll catch more with honey! Try always to give them extra time, to provide them with extra input, and then to stay out of their collective hair!

Nothing wrong with asking for rough drafts or updates, but avoid harsh criticism– as you would with a customer–if you’re interested in getting outstanding work back. Explain points you disagree with the same way you would want others to explain points that they might disagree with you about. It’s not that hard, and you will gain both respect and greater effort.

It’s one thing when someone takes twice as long as you think she or he should to perform a routine mechanical task, but quite another when you assume that the creative process is routine and mechanical and proceed to set unrealistic deadlines . . . unless you really don’t care about a quality image or delivering a meaningful message?

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HAL ALPIAR Writer/Consultant 302.933.0911 TheWriterWorks.com, LLC

National Award-Winning Author & Brand Marketer – Record Client Sales