3 Lessons from a Billion-Dollar Leader
By · CommentsI recently listened to Lisa Ashby at the January meeting of Women for Economic Leadership and Development (WELD). Lisa is a billion-dollar leader – she runs the Scientific Products division (a $1.2 billion division) of Cardinal Health.
What I was drawn to was Lisa’s conversational, inviting style – and I would imagine that is how she leads her team of about 200 people. It was also very evident she knew her business up and down, inside and out.
I’ll share with you 3 key points from her that she identified as critical to her success.
Ask for what you want. When you see something that might create a new career path or new business opportunity, don’t wait around for it to happen. Go for it. ASK. So many times we wait for people to notice something about us or to make the offer. But it’s not going to happen. It’s your responsibility to make it happen.
Choose. Be a decision maker, and choose what you want. And sometimes choosing means saying no to something that just isn’t the right fit. This applies whether you are a business owner deciding a new product path or narrowing your target market, or making your way along the corporate ladder.
Take risks. I think this one is a natural if you’re working on the first two. Taking risks is all part of it. It’s much easier to sit back and keep doing the same thing, but those who are most successful realize the value of calculated risk. Not everything will be successful, but as Wayne Gretsky says, you miss 100% of the shots you never take.
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Small Business Success in the Columbus Region
By · CommentsI attended the Small Business Forum & Leader Awards luncheon today, sponsored by the Columbus Chamber and Columbus Business First (among others). Very inspiring!
Despite everything we hear about the economy, there ARE entrepreneurs and businesses out there not just succeeding, but thriving – at $1 million levels and beyond!
I thought I would share a few things I learned today. (These are from my fast and furious notes, so any mistakes are mine.)
First a few points from keynote speaker Bea Wolper, President of Emens & Wolper Law Firm:
The top 2 key areas businesses are (or should be) focusing on in terms of growth and attracting clients:
Word or mouth and referrals. Wolper said this isn’t new . . . but from my viewpoint, just goes to show how important it is that we are actually making this happen. It can be very easy to get involved in other strategies or tactics to build our businesses, but this tried-and-true method is critical.
Social media for marketing. Wolper took a quick straw poll of the room, asking how many business owners were using some form of social media. Not as many as I thought! Social media isn’t the only way to market, but small business owners need to at least learn what it can do for them, and make informed decisions in terms of strategy and execution.
Wolper offered a few other ideas that small business owners can implement to make a true difference in moving forward in the “new normal” of today’s economy:
Focus on receivables. While things remain tight in the economy (and really – always), smart business owners know what’s going on with their receivables. They’re willing to be (ethically) creative to help customers stay current and keep the cash flow going.
Establish an advisory board. Get mentors and experts to help you guide your business . . . an outside perspective is critical to growth.
Take time away to think. Most business owners will say something like, “I’m too busy running my business to take time out.” Wolper shared a story of a business owner who did just that. He had some important decisions to make regarding health care plans – and could have made a quick decision on the fly. But instead he hosted a brainstorming session, yielding an idea that saved his company $40,000. So the message? It actually does pay to take time away, and just quietly think about where your business is going next.
And I’ll end this post with two quick facts about small business ownership and the Columbus region:
- In the United States, 8 out of 10 new jobs created are by small businesses.
- 9 out of 10 Columbus Chamber members are, you guessed it . . . small business owners. And they directly contribute to this region’s success today and in the future!
3 Buying Triggers Every Service Professional Should Know
By · CommentsThis month I’m sharing my ideas and comments from Harry Beckwith’s Selling the Invisible . . . services.
Services are in fact invisible – you are selling a promise to your client that you will help them get or achieve something in their business. They are buying into you, your expertise, and your promise. But do you know their decision triggers?
We like to think those triggers are a logical process of research, comparison, and rational decision making. But because we’re people, it doesn’t always work out that way, does it?
There are 3 triggers Beckwith describes that you have to remember when creating visibility for yourself and marketing to potential clients:
Familiarity. Do you ever notice that some service professionals or companies are everywhere? They’re on social media, at networking events, being written up in the local paper, and making client calls. This isn’t magic – it’s about a marketing plan that creates familiarity with your potential and current clients. Potential clients, because they get to know you as a credible resource. Current clients, because it validates they made the right decision in hiring you, and will refer you to others.
Ask yourself, how familiar are you to those in your market? And how familiar are you with alliance partners that can refer business to you?
Recent Exposure. This is all about follow-up. How many times have you engaged with a potential client and then there was no regular exposure, or follow-up? It’s OK to be honest here, we’ve all done it. The very successful create a follow-up plan and work it consistently. First, get clear on how you want potential clients to engage with you. Is it via your website, a free consultation, a monthly education session?
For example, in my coaching practice – I like for people to engage with me via my website. There they can get to know me through my blog and other free resources I provide. They can opt-in to my community and receive regular communications from me. Remember to keep it simple – but create and follow through on your follow-up plan.
Good Enough. This one was eye-opening for me. Beckwith explains that “people do not look to make a superior choice; they want to avoid making a bad choice.” In other words, they are looking for a service that is good enough to meet their needs at the time. I always figured that people want to make the superior choice – but when I analyzed my own buying patterns, I realized that often times I made choices with the best information I had in front of me at the time – the good decision to get me where I wanted to go next. Your clients are doing the same thing. Instead, we need to be looking at the fears holding our clients back from making a buying decision, and address those.
For example, on the training development side of my business – one common fear is that because I’m an outside firm, I may not understand the nuances of their business in creating their training course ware. So it’s my job to eliminate that fear – with business results I’ve achieved in similar situations, describing the process I undergo with each new client, my ability to create a partnership with their company.
Get to know these triggers, because more often than not, it’s exactly how your clients are making their decisions.
Do You “Go Where They Ain’t?”
By · CommentsI’m currently reading Selling the Invisible by Harry Beckwith. The book is over 10 years old – but it’s amazing how relevant it still is to those of us who are service professionals.
And as business owners, we need to have the clear understanding that selling services (read: selling ourselves) is way different than selling a product. Why? Because offering services is like offering the invisible – it’s simply a promise that you will do something for your client.
So for the rest of November, I’ll be posting my thoughts on Beckwith’s various tips as I read through this book.
Do you have a “Go Where They Ain’t” strategy in your business?
Do you go where they ain't?
What does that mean exactly?
Beckwith uses Wal-Mart as an example. When Sam Walton founded Wal-Mart, he decided to go where his competitors at the time wouldn’t dare go – to small towns that seemingly couldn’t (or wouldn’t) support a large discount store. His first store was opened in a tiny Arkansas town. He expanded from there into other small towns, ultimately dominating those towns and their surrounding areas. That profitability allowed Walton to then expand into larger and larger communities. Because Walton “re-framed” his strategy to go where no one else would . . . you know the rest of the story.
Let’s apply this same idea to your consulting practice, because “Go Where They Ain’t” could mean many different things. When you examine your business:
- Could you find a unique niche that no one else is serving, or create a true specialty? If you’re only calling on the exact same customers, or you’re always in the same circles as everyone else, this is a sign you might need to get creative.
- Can you create a partnership or alliance that puts you in front of a new audience? For example, one colleague runs a training company, and her programs were traditionally all classroom based. She partnered with an e-learning company to transition some of her courses into a new format – and now has new markets of interest.
- Are you saying yes to new opportunities that might stretch you a bit outside of what you’re used to? The best growth places are typically right outside of your comfort zone – so don’t automatically say no to an opportunity that is new or different.
- Are you doing your research? Usually we equate this with interviewing or researching members of our market. But what about this? Interview trusted colleagues or others outside of your market. Ask them where you might “go where they ain’t.” It’s amazing what an outside perspective can do.
Other ideas to share? Please leave a comment.
4 Great Ways to Keep Your Business On Track
By · CommentsThis is a great post from good friend and fellow Book Yourself Solid Coach Sue Painter. Enjoy!
Solo professionals need a strong vision of where they’re headed and an internal warning system that tells them when they are getting off their game. Here are four ways to make sure you are keeping on track.
Take a look at your to-do list. Put a star by anything that has been on that list for more than two weeks, and look at those starred items with an eagle eye. Chances are, you are procrastinating on those items. Take the starred items and list them out on a separate sheet of paper, and out beside each one note what the very next step is to move that item forward. Now, either schedule it in your calendar for THIS week, or hand it off to an assistant. Often, entrepreneurs procrastinate because they are unsure how to proceed. If that’s the issue, call a friend, talk to your Mastermind group, put it on your coaching agenda – take an action that will get you out of “not knowing how.”
If you get into the habit of regularly scanning your to-do list and noticing what hangs on there for several weeks or more, you’ll develop the strong habit of pushing yourself out of procrastination.
Get yourself a timer. As you sit down to work on the task at hand, set the timer for half an hour and pledge to work ONLY on that task, with no interruptions. I often tell my clients that the world actually can live without them for 30 minutes at a time! Don’t check e-mail, answer the phone, Tweet about what you are doing. Stay right on task until the timer goes off. Using a timer to create concentrated periods of work teaches you focus. Entrepreneurs are well-known for having “bright shiny object syndrome” (also called fuzzy focus.) The more you train yourself to focus for short bursts of time, the more productive you will be.
Remind yourself of your big vision at least once a day, and tell someone else at least once a week. It’s easy to get discouraged when obstacles get in the way, and discouragement can lead to self-doubt. Regularly reminding yourself that you are doing your business for an important reason, and that you have every capability to succeed is critical. And about once a week, it’s good to hear that from someone else who is a supporter. Creating the habit of keeping your vision in the top of your mind fosters a strong faith in yourself and what you’re doing. It drives self-doubt out the door.
Get yourself into a Mastermind group, meet regularly, and don’t skip. You didn’t decide to be in business for yourself to play small, did you? Developing a strong relationship with other solo business owners who can encourage and support you creates a habit of thinking big. And that’s what you want to be doing, thinking big, thinking out of the box, thinking in ways that most people don’t think. A good Mastermind group will both encourage and challenge you to get out of your comfort zone, keeping you from thinking too small about yourself and your business. It’s a safe place to test out your most outrageous business ideas and get help in shaping those into reality. Develop the habit of thinking big and out of the box! It will help ensure that your business flourishes.
Using these four systems fosters four good habits that keep you right on track. And in the end, those habits lead directly to a better bottom line.
(c) Sue Painter
Want to learn more about these topics? Check out the Four Ways to Flourish Telesummit Package!
3 Steps to Achieving Any Goal
By · CommentsIf you’re stuck on reaching a goal in your business and procrastination sets in, you’re not alone. It is one of the top reasons why we don’t flourish in our businesses.
If it were so easy everyone would be doing it right?
In the 4 Ways to Flourish Telesummit, Million Dollar Income Acceleration Coach David Neagle provided a great formula for becoming unstuck.
David Neagle shared a specific tool for reaching any goal in your business or personal life.
First, define your need, being as specific as possible. This is different than the big picture for your business; instead, it’s getting to the very goal you’re trying to reach in this moment. What David reminds us is that whatever we need is already here. This can be hard to accept or believe, but it’s true. When you put the need out there, the answer is there – waiting for you to find it.
Second, take a blank sheet of paper and draw a vertical line down the center so you have two columns. Title the left column “Why I Can’t.” Title the right column “How I Can.” Beginning on the right side, list all of the ideas that come to your mind about how you can achieve the goal. But here’s the thing – simultaneously, your subconscious is going to tell you all the reasons why it can’t be done. Pay zero attention to that subconscious mind and continue writing the ideas down, no matter what.
Third, take action on each of your ideas. Don’t skip one, no matter how tempting! The answer is in your action. David says:
“The universe is trying to get you the thing that you need, more than you think you need it. But if you talk yourself out of doing one of those things, or you are afraid to do it, or it’s calling up some kind of fear for you, or you procrastinate – then you are not going to get the thing that you want. But if you [take action on each idea] you will take care of whatever your [need] is immediately.”
Your success is about reaching one goal at a time, and this simple tool can help you reach your next goal. This was just one of the great ideas that David shared, along with 3 other amazing entrepreneurs, during the 4 Ways to Flourish Telesummit.
Your call to action? Decide now to order the Four Ways to Flourish Telesummit Package. For only $47, you’ll receive the audio files and professional transcripts from David and the other entrepreneurial leaders Sue Painter and I interviewed.
When you compare just one hour of these experts’ time with the price point of this series, I know you’ll see the value in taking action! And the truth is, you really can’t buy an hour of time with a few of these folks at any price!
3 Simple Tips to Recharge Your Presentations
By · CommentsI delivered my third Toastmasters speech today, cold and all!
Because I’m in training and development and I’m a business coach, I often find myself speaking to groups – whether live or virtual. It’s easy to fall into a rut with the way we present ourselves and our content to others.
Every time you speak, write an email, post a blog, or use social media – you’re in fact making a presentation. That directly relates to how you and your message are received, and your credibility. And as a business owner, I believe your ability to attract clients and close business.
So I chose to talk about simple ways to recharge presentations and selected 3 tips that could be applied in most any situation.
While these tips are specifically geared toward presentations – whether live or virtual – they can also apply to other aspects of your communication with others.
Create a hot start with a compelling introduction. Your audience will make judgments about you, your message, and your credibility within the first couple minutes (maybe even less). That impression tends to last throughout their experience with you. Make the most of that time by creating a compelling introduction. Before you even get to that opening content, you want to pique curiosity, create surprise, and grab your audience. A simple way to do that is with a poll question. Formulate a question that is relevant to your audience and the content, and also creates conversation.
Stir emotions and improve engagement with stories. Our brains simply can’t remember boring things! We are programmed for stories. Why? Because stories attach meaning to the details, making them more memorable. Look for places in your content where storytelling may better convey your point, rather than just pure information telling.
Use the 10-minute rule. No matter how engaging you are, or how interesting your content – it’s human nature for people to tune out after about 10 minutes. Solve that by introducing a change at 10-minute intervals. That could be a poll question, a story, or simply a transition to a new topic. This keeps your audience with you and looking forward to what’s next.
Just implementing one of these techniques in your next presentation, virtual meeting, or informal interactions will make a difference in how your listener perceives you and your message – you’ll be credible and memorable!
Balance the Scales of Features and Benefits
By · CommentsFeatures and benefits – you can’t really have one without the other – and be honest about what you’re selling and delivering to your clients.
A recent article came across my desk about features and benefits, and making sure you’re sharing the benefits of your product or service. Which I agree is important.
But let’s take a look at the value of features. It’s a balancing act in the creation of your marketing collateral and your sales processes. When the scales are out of balance, you risk turning off your clients and losing sales.
Do your offers have balance between the features and benefits?
Why?
Benefits do matter – you have to clearly demonstrate to your potential clients what the end result is in working with you or your organization. But, people still need to know the components of what you’re offering – otherwise they might think you’re just doing a sales job on them. If you’re considering buying a product or program, and there’s this huge long list of all the benefits it offers . . . but the actual features that provide the path to those benefits aren’t described well, what does that say?
Know your audience – what is most important to the person/decision maker you are speaking to? For example, men and women may respond differently. Organizations and individuals may respond differently. This is where having your target market profile is key. When you can visualize the person or group you are writing to and know their decision-making factors, it can make a huge difference in all of your copy – web copy, emails, voice mails, autoresponders. I forget where I picked up this point – but it really resonated with me – everything you write (and say) is copy. So take care in what you’re putting out there.
Ultimately – your end goal is to create confidence and inspire action. Your benefits should inspire that action, because that person wants what you have, they want the end results you’re describing. It helps them reconcile their emotional need to buy. But seeing a well-constructed list of the features that will get them to that result – it can help reconcile the logical side that says, “OK. I can see this person has thought this through and is offering the ‘how’ of getting to those benefits.” People want confidence that you know “how” to get them there – your features.
What’s your take? Leave your comments.
Develop This and Boost Your Income
By · CommentsIn listening to James Roche in our Four Ways to Flourish Telesummit, he said something that really stood out to me.
Four Ways to Flourish is part of my "why" in serving women entrepreneurs!
He sees 1 quality in those who are able to move from some success in their business to truly growing – 6-figures, 7-figures and beyond.
What is it? Focus.
That ability to hone in on only the most important, income-producing elements of your business, and seeing them through to completion. I’ll be honest – I consider myself only a practitioner on this one, but working each day toward excellence.
Here are a two things I’m doing that have me squarely on the path:
I’m putting my team together. First I created a list of the tasks and services my business needs to run smoothly. Next to each task or service, I’ve listed 1-2 people or companies that can provide that service. I’m also in the process of hiring my first assistant to ultimately become the “point person” for daily operations, so I can focus on the creative side.
I’m creating my business and life schedule. If you’re anything like most entrepreneurs, your calendar has appointments and commitments spread all throughout the week – but no true focused blocks of time on revenue-generating activities. And you’re working late hours to finish what you’re not getting done during the day. I’ve now committed each week on Sunday evening – creating my schedule for the week and creating blocks of time dedicated to focus time, flex time, and open time so I can better manage my business.
James has achieved excellence in focus, and openly shared specific strategies and tactics with our listeners.
To learn more from James and our other speakers, order the Four Ways to Flourish Telesummit Package. For only $47, you’ll receive mp3 files and professional transcripts from all of these amazing entrepreneurial leaders.
When you compare just one hour of these experts’ time with the price point of this series, I know you’ll see the value in taking action! And the truth is, you really can’t buy an hour of time with a few of these folks at ANY price.
Is Your Business Like “The Drawer?”
By · CommentsLadies, we all have one. That drawer in our bathroom, full of beauty products we just had to have and were sooo great in the store. And we buy them.
Whether it’s the dollar store or the department store, the point is we buy them, and we usually buy lots of them.
They’re going to get rid of wrinkles, take 10 years off our face, or we don’t have that color yet, right? I’m willing to bet you have at LEAST $100 in products hanging around.
And then . . . you throw them in “The Drawer.” The hinterland of beauty products. They collect dust and expire. They didn’t look as good at home as in the store. Had that color already. We either keep them in the drawer because we might need them someday, completely forget about them, or eventually toss them.
Is your business organized like this . . .
Let’s apply this metaphor to your business. Does it have only what you and your clients need and value, or is “The Drawer?” In truth, maybe a bit of both – but what you and your clients need and value is covered by the old, expired stuff. You’re not alone!
. . . when it would be so much more profitable like this?
Here are 2 tips to help organize “The Drawer” that is your business:
Find your focus, buy a timer. James Roche said in the Four Ways to Flourish Telesummit one of the key differentiators between people who are mildly successful and wildly successful is the ability to focus. Each of your new ideas is like one of those tubes of lipstick. You have lots of them, but they’re not all worth keeping. Many entrepreneurs flit from idea to idea, each not fully developed. You need to do two things. Take a good hard look at your ideas, then decide which ones will actually create results in your business.
But how to focus on one specific task? The brain cannot truly pay attention to more than one task at a time, and do it well. One of James’ tips? Get a small timer and place it on your desk. Set it for 20-30 minutes as you focus on one task. Work only on that task until the timer goes off. Just that one change in your routine will make a difference.
Create processes in your business. Does your business have an operations manual? Are you creating processes that keep your business running smoothly? Even if you don’t have these two things right now – you need to be thinking about them and preparing yourself to create them. Each of those processes that you keep doing yourself that can be outsourced to an assistant – is clutter in the drawer.
So how to de-clutter? You can begin with the very next process that comes across your desk. As you work through the next process, write down each step as you do it. Then add that process to your operations manual, and then it goes to your assistant. Yes, your business needs an assistant.
These two small but powerful “beauty products” will have your business looking wrinkle free and 10 years younger!