Leadership on Speed

i left. you might. and so will your loyal customers.

As both a CEO and a consumer, I often experience customer service situations through a unique lens.  I am usually on the lookout for how to apply those experiences to my own organization. Seth Godin reminded me today of a recent encounter with my (now former) cable company that had the potential to teach me a powerful business lesson.

Which I completely ignored.

Until now....

You see, my husband and I were loyal Dish customers for almost 10 years.  For about the past year, we had been discussing the possibility of looking around but we were quite satisfied with the service.  We really thought perhaps that the outcome of our investigation would result in our continuing with Dish but negotiating better pricing.  We were certainly in no real hurry to switch primarily because we had many of our favorite programs saved on the Dish DVR and we were struggling with a simple way to save those to another device.

....then our HD hard drive crashed and we lost all of our recordings anyway - STRIKE ONE.

Bummer, drag.

Yet and still, Dish sent us a new HD box and with all we had on our plate we were still in no hurry. In the meantime, we continued to casually look around at other providers and we noticed that we could really save money even if we added more services. 

Still no hurry.

Then our new HD box began acting funny - STRIKE ONE AND A HALF.

Hmmmmm......

Still no hurry.

We became "ispired" while were out running errands one day at Sam's Club and a DirectTV rep "happened" to be in the store selling HD packages.  Fortuitous, right?

We got a great deal, saved ourselves about $100/month on comparable services (STRIKE TWO FOR DISH) and switched to Direct that day but it was when I called to cancel Dish that I learned the most.

Now remember, we had been Dish customers for 10 years.  Always paid on time.  Never a problem.  When I phoned Dish to cancel, the discussion went something like this:

Me: Hi.  I'm calling to cancel our Dish service.

Dish rep: Well hello.  I see you are one of our best customers.  Wow, you have been with us a very long time....  Well if you stay with Dish, we have a special going on that gives you free...(blah, blah, blah).  We also have a special program that can reduce your price on "x".

Me:  Well thank you but those deals still don't come close to saving the money I do by switching.  I am going to save $100/month.

Dish rep: Is that for comparable service because we do have the lowest pricing in the market.

Me:  You may think that's true but clearly if I'm saving $100/month for the same service, your pricing isn't the lowest.

Here is where it get's really interesting......

Dish rep:  Well, I see that you guys are not signed up for our email specials.  Had you been signed up for those and viewed them on a regular basis, you would have seen many specials that might have saved you more money because we do have the lowest prices in the market.

Me:  What I heard her say in my head was "It's your own fault stupid for paying too much." STRIKE THREE! What I replied was, "Well sweetie, I believe that YOU believe that you have the lowest prices in the market. Please just end my service."

Dish rep: Yes ma'am.  We're sorry to see you go.  We will send you some boxes to return your items.  You don't have an outstanding balance but we do charge you for the boxes to return your equipment..

Al-righty then.  After 10 years of being an excellent customer and OVERpaying for years and years and years, the final insult was an additional $31 charge to NOT be a Dish customer anymore.

MY LESSONS:

Great customers are valuable gems.  They need to be nurtured and cared for.  If Dish could decrease our bill by $40 when we threatened to leave, they could have decreased our bill JUST for being a loyal customer (which is better than a good customer).  If just once Dish had sent us a letter saying:

Thank you for your loyalty.  In reviewing our records, we see that you have been a customer for well over 5 years (or 6 or 7 or 8 or whatever the number is) and we would like to thank you by reducing your regular bill by $20/month.

Heck, it could have been $10 for all I care, the point is that we would have KNOWN they valued us and despite continuing to pay more money (even with the reduction), they would most likely have kept us for another 10 years.

As a CEO, I promise to do better for our clients - to notice, to reward and to be loyal to those who are loyal to us (and to ensure that our client services personnel NEVER call anyone stupid). We hope you will too.

Thank you for your continued confidence (and thank you Seth for the reminder).

Continue to be great!

 

PS.  For Seth's full blog post, click here.

 

thriving in incompetence

I had the privilege recently of listening to a keynote given by Julio Olalla, founder of the Newfield Network (a coaching institute) and well known in coaching circles.  He was magnificent.  He spoke about many things but something that resonated with me was this statement "When we declare a dream, the first thing we realize is that we are incompetent to get there, so many of us declare nothing at all."

 

WOW! Talk about a lightbulb moment!! I thought to myself, "How true is that?"  It resonated with me because I have done hundreds of consults in which the potential client declares a dream and then quickly discusses all the reason why they "can't" make it happen.  I have also been there at various times in my own life! I remember when I was a "young" drug rep.  I didn't have much industry experience but I had come to the industry with five years of leadership experience from another organization.  My goal at the time was to get back into management as quickly as possible but when I had the first opportunity to put my hat in the ring, I didn't go for it.  Why?  I believed at the time that I still didn't have enough "industry" experience and rather than go for it and fail (or even scarier - succeed), I chose not to play. 

 

How often have you declared a goal and decided that you didn't have what it took to get there or be successful?

 

The beauty (and comfort) of Mr. Olalla's statement was the realization that on some level, we are all incompetent!  As long as you are growing and stretching, you will always find yourself in unfamiliar territory which translates into having some degree of incompetence.  Don't fear it - welcome it!  Our ego's tell us that we should know it all - what a bunch of hogwash!  Whether it's a job or starting a company, you take the first step and then you learn what you need to learn to be successful in getting to the next.

 

When I began my coaching company, the only thing I had a handle on was coaching! I had to face the reality of all the things I DIDN'T know about running a company, how to market, how to create products, determining WHAT products my audience needed, etc.  I could easily have stopped within the first five minutes!  We have to recognize that when we choose to take a journey, the ONLY thing we may be clear about is that we want to take the journey - even the destination may be fuzzy!  We stop because we "think" we should know the route and because we don't, we decide that we're in over our heads and we quit. 

 

The journey to goal creation is no different than taking a trip from Florida to California.  Once I decide to take the trip, there are a ton of options about how to get there.  Do I drive? Fly?  Walk? Take a train? (yes, walking is an option!)  If I drive, what route do I take?  Do I want to go straight from Florida to California or are there places or people to visit along the way?  If you get overwhelmed in all the possible permutations of getting there, you may change your mind and stay in Florida but you then miss the richness of the experience of trying to get to California! 

 

Not only do we face a myriad of tactical decisions that could stop us, we face the internal dialogue that constantly plagues us: 

 

What if I fail?

What if I succeed?

What if I get "too" big?

What will others think of me?

Will others "get" it? 

What if they don't? etc, etc. 

 

As a coach, I am no different than you. I am a human being with frailties and fears.  What may distinguish me is that this time, my incompetence didn't stop me.  I found my purpose and I chose to honor it.  I joyfully live with a certain degree of incompetence because I realize that on some level, it means that I am courageous enough to declare and live my vision!  The beauty of fluidity is that my journey has taken me in so many amazing and wonderful directions that are far from what I thought it might look like when I began.  Opportunities do show up when we allow our boldness to shine.  What I have come to learn is that what I need always shows up when I need it  - NOT to be confused with what I WANT but sometimes that shows up too. :-)  I'm smart enough (most of the time) to acknowledge what it is I don't know (or that I don't know what I don't know) and try to stay open enough to see and accept the gifts that are offered to me in support of my quest and my dream. 

 

Will you join me?  Just for today live in gracious incompetence.  Choose power instead of fear.  Choose abundance instead of scarcity.  Choose gratitude instead of selfishness.  Choose joyful living instead of existing...   

 

Are you there? I would love to hear your story!

 

You were born to be great.

 

YES, you can!

do something

"It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it." -Lena Horne

This has been a tough week.  On Tuesday, I received the following email:

My boss is about to lose his machine shop and I was wondering if their is anything that can keep this from happening. It is a small family owned business and he treats his employees like family. He is in major debt with vendors, the IRS and behind on rent and has been served and eviction notice. Is there any good advice that can be given to keep the shop from shutting the doors?

This is just one communication I received this week that speaks to the desperation and heartbreak of the current economy.  I know it's tough and I know things can seem hopeless but the one thing that you can do for yourself before things get so far gone is GET HELP.

So let me be clear - help does not mean asking cousin Shirley or Uncle Bob what they think unless they are employed in a profession that makes their advice relevant. I know your friends and family love you but what I'm talking about is going to professionals who actually have a level of expertise that can make a difference in your career or business.

I know. I know.  Sounds like good advice, but it also costs money, right?

Maybe.

Don't let lack of money stop you.  Before you go back to pulling your hair out, let me point you to some low or no-cost options to consider.. 

If you're a business owner, please take a visit to your local Small Business Administration (SBA).  If you thought the SBA was just for business start-up's, think again.  The SBA defines a small business as having revenues up to $1 million per year so if you're still under the cut-off, I'm sure they have resources that can give you some great ideas about how to survive this economy.  The good news for your pocketbook is that most SBA's offer a multitude of free or low-cost services (i.e. less than $40 for most classes in my city) including special support services for minorities and women.  One of my favorite "tools" is the SCORE program which enlists retired volunteers to coach/mentor younger business owners (hopefully in the same or similar business).

If you think your business could benefit from more intense action, try finding a business coach  whose job it is to support you in developing a tangible action plan and stick to it (yes, I'm partial!).  The best coaches will ensure that you create quantitative and qualitative results.  If you think you can't afford it, think again.  Yes, there are definitely coaching services that charge $500 and up per month but you may be able to find coaches for as little as $100.  Buyer beware- in the coaching world, a more expensive coach does not necessarily mean a better coach.  Many "new" coaches have tons of experience in their field but charge lower prices to build-up their clientele but ego being what it is, someone else who hung a shingle the same day, may charge $1000 out of the gate.  Additionally, some coaches even take on clients pro bono or offer a la carte services to help affordability.  Visit International Coach Federation website for a checklist of what to look for in a good coach and by all means, do your homework and find someone that resonates with you and you goals.  Most offer a free consult, so you can get a free trial run before you plunk down your money. 

You can also google for consulting services that meet the specific deficit of your business.  The difference between coaching and consulting?  All coaches are consultants, all consultants are not coaches (although I have met some consultants with greatcoaching abilities!).  Consultants are generally paid to diagnose but as a general rule are the most expensive way to go.  If your business is still at a point where you can afford a consultant though, it is a also a good option.

The bottom-line is do something.  Your business will not be served by ignoring the challenges you face and doing nothing.  It's hard sometimes to admit that things aren't working or that you are getting behind on your bills but when you own a business, there is more at stake than just losing access to cable.  The sooner you reach out, the less debris you'll have even if that means you must develop a "graceful" exit strategy.

You were born to be great.

YES, you can!

is your business going the way of the dinosaur?

The other day I held a consult for a potential client who - if he does nothing differently - will be extinct by the end of 2009, if not before. 

His story:  He began a recruiting company well over 10 years ago and created a strong, specialty niche for agencies needing associates with IT skills and a top secret clearance.  It was great at the time.  The only problem if any,  was that he was the third party supplier and never had the direct relationship with the companies doing the hiring.  That aside, it worked for a while.  His revenue was consistent.  Not great, but consistent and he was even able to hire a couple of recruiters....

Until the clients dried up.

Like so many small businesses, the change in the current marketplace also changed his client base and he phoned me because he is currently "surviving" on just one fee-for-performance contract. 

The good news:

1. The "client" is a well-known and prestigious realty company

2.  He has a sole source contract. 

The bad news:

1.  Most folks still doing real estate these days are probably fairly loyal to their company

2.  He only gets paid when the realty company agrees to allow the agent to represent them (which means a LOT of upfront work for no guarantee on payment).

3.  Once he has met the clients hiring goals, he will "perform" his way out of a job. 

4.  He cut his rate substantially just to get the contract.

The fact of the matter is that it's a win-lose contract but he feels it still allows him to be in the game AND the potential for some income is better than the potential for none (which he would have if he didn't have the contract) and the sad reality is that after more than 10 years in business, he us a hair's breath away from becoming extinct.

And he knows it.

Are you on the verge of joining him?

Every day businesses are going under because they refuse to do things differently.  Like my new friend above, they may even see the writing on the wall.  The saw the train coming but got frozen the headlights.  They blinked and got run over.

When was the last time you took stock of your current business situation?  Forty years ago, a business might be able to "wing it" and survive.  Those days are gone.  If you see declining revenues month after month after month and you think you can ride out the economy, think again.

• Do you have a business plan?  If not, when are you planning on writing one?  If so, when was the last time you reviewed it?

• How long has it been since you researched your industry or read new material that could give you some insight on reinventing your company or marketing strategy?

• When was the last time you did anything that could be considered innovative?

My guess is that this isn't just your business, it's your life.  Whether you founded it one year ago, ten years ago or last month, something ignited a spark in you that resulted in you beginning your own company.  Don't lose sight now.  You may have to reinvent, rework or rethink the way you do business but at the end of the day, you only have to survive one day longer than your competition!

You were born to be great!

YES, you can!

the road to lasting wealth: pursuing passion or pursuing money

If you're one of those who believes that following your passion is a pipe dream reserved only for those who "can afford it", perhaps today's post will shed a little insight on just why following your passion could be the way to go!

Whether you want to believe it or not, more millionaires than you can imagine will be created in this economy. 

Why?

Simply put: One of the fundamental components of wealth creation is doing work you love and there is nothing like a recession to force people into making part-time fun pursuits into money-making enterprises....

Yes....REALLY!

As a business and career coach, any conversation about career pursuits always seems to involve some discussion of whether one should pursue their passion or simply pursue money.  Clients initially tend to be divided as to which path provides the better probability for generating real and lasting wealth.  

If you have ever wondered the same, consider the following:

Back in the 1960's, Scrully Blotnick, Ph.D. psychologist, conducted a "wealth-creation" study of 1,500 people that lasted 20 years. He put his test subjects into two categories:

Category A said they would pursue money first and follow their passions later. A total of 1,245 people were placed in that group. They represented 83% of the people studied.

Category B was made up of only 255 people who said they would seek their passions and interests first and trust that the money would follow. They represented 17% of the people studied.

Twenty years later, there were 101 millionaires from the entire study. Interestingly, one hundred of the millionaires were from category B (pursue your passions), and only one millionaire was from category A (pursue the money).

The group that pursued their passions first and represented only 17% of the people studied, accounted for a whopping 99% of the eventual millionaires.

More recently, Thomas J. Stanley (author of The Millionaire Next Door and The Millionaire Mind) in his interviews of 733 self-made first generation rich millionaires who had an average of 9.1 million in net worth, came to this conclusion:

"They are ‘nichers,’ and they have little competition. ... It’s all about vocation, vocation, vocation. If you select the bedrock foundation of the ideal vocation, what then? You love the products you produce. You have affection for your customers and supplies. In addition, you know more about your niche market than anyone else and your customers don’t care if you were a C student in college - to them you are the answer to their problem."

The lessons learned?

To create real wealth, focus on your interests and passions first and the money will follow. Ironically, if you focus strictly on making money, you most likely will not have much fulfillment and may ultimately be negatively affecting your ability to create real and lasting wealth.

If you are grinding it out in a job or business you don't enjoy or lack purpose and passion for what you are currently doing, perhaps it's time to follow your heart, gut and passions.  Now you have even more "proof" that it's time to work on PLAN B!

You were born to be great.

YES, you can!

the social media trap

MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Plaxo etc, etc.....

Once the exclusive haven for friends and family, social media (Social Media 2.0) is now growing as a marketing platform for businesses.  You can follow, update and tweet (i.e. microblog) your status as often are as little as you choose.  The idea is to build your tribe - a natural community of followers who are drawn to your message, service or product.  As you communicate items of interests, your tribe passes that information on to their circle of influence and some of those folks may also choose to become a part of your community.

Sounds cool, right?

After all, you post a few things a day to your social media sites and customers just show up! 

Hmmmmm.....

Maybe.

I know I'm treading out on the skinny branches here,  but don't get me wrong. What I love about social media is that I get invited into others lives in a more personal way.  I get the privilege of getting good information but I also find out who has kids, or who is into sports or other tidbits that allow me to see glimpses of the "person" and not just their work.  

The trap is that the allure of the tribal customer community can also defocus entrepreneurs from actually running their business.  I see businesses tweeting twenty, thirty, forty times per day just to "be seen" by their community.  If you're "business" is social media, that may work well.  If not, not so much.

What happens is that in an effort to be "seen", businesses sacrifice genuine and authentic information for quantity and ultimately the valued information they once provided becomes watered down and invaluable to the members.  Business owners also become so focused on growing the tribe that they forget to be human first.  Ultimately - the tribe is lost or credibility is lost.  As folks figure out more and more ways to monetize social media outlets, this phenomenon will only get worse.

If you aren't in the social media business but you are spending 2 hours or more per day posting and following, then you've most likely taken your eye off of the real ball. Don't forget that social media is  just one prong of a marketing strategy and cannot grow a young or start-up business as effectively as you can when you get out from behind the keyboard.

By the way, if you haven't jumped in the social media pool at all, I do invite you to come on in.  The water is fine - just don't visit the deep end before you're ready! 

If you're active in social media, do you find yourself getting distracted?  Is it helping to grow your business?

You were born to be great.

YES, you can!

playing beat the clock

When a business owner starts a new venture, it always seems like a race against time until you turn the corner - the profit corner, that is. Of course, that is only the first success marker, the ultimate goal is to actually generate sufficient income to pay the bills and create a differrent level of personal freedom but sometimes we need to remember that "slow and steady wins the race".

I was thinking the other day about a colleague of mine that is essentially out of business.  He still pretends publicly that his company exists but when you pull back the curtain (think Wizard of Oz), there are no clients, no income, no business. 

It's a hard thing to witness.

I met him pretty quickly after he began his company in 2007 and I clearly remember him saying, "I'm giving it a year."  At the time, I also clearly remember thinking, "He's not going to make it."  Don't' get me wrong...as I coach I want everyone to succeed.  It is truly my fervent hope and desire but I am also a coach because I have learned, studied and experienced what doesn't work and in the case of this gentleman what clearly wasn't going to work was turning his company into a bill-paying enterprise within a year.

Why?  Well, first of all, he ran a service company.  Service companies are a different animal.  Success is predicated on performance, consistency, credibility and trust.  In other words, things that take time.  As a sole-proprietor, unless you can figure out a way to "go big" rather quickly, the one-by-one-by-one approach places you squarely on the path of the tortoise. 

Strike two - His pricing was ridiculously low (and well below the market price) for his service and his performance.  The guy is extremely gifted at what he does but he priced his product so low that the idea of turning a profit (let alone paying the bills) was significantly delayed.  He thought that he would generate volume to make up for the price but unfortunately the volume never arrived.

Strike three - He never hired anyone that could help him accelerate his results.  Given his commitment (or his desperation) to generate numbers within a year, it was almost imperative that he invest in outside support such as a business coach, mastermind group or similar business accelerator.  His reason for not doing so?  You guessed it.  He couldn't afford it! Based on his result, I would submit that he couldn't afford not to...

The bottom line:

If you're thinking about starting a new venture - GO FOR IT! - but be realistic with your planning and budget time lines.  Anything is possible with the right resources, support and persistence but it's up to you to do your homework and set the correct expectations for how you define success.

You were born to be great.

YES, you can!

the definition of insanity (even in a recession)

A young woman phoned me recently in complete distress over her career.  She was in her early thirties and concerned because she had not yet found the "it" in her career.  She felt she had been moving from company to company to company throughout her relatively young career and wanted to get to the root of what it is she really wants to do.

I want to share something with you today that you may not want to accept or believe but I'm going to say it anyway...

For many of us, this recession is the best thing that could ever happen..

...at least for your career.

Let's face it - our tolerance level for our work environment is a lot higher when the money is flowing but now that businesses have turned off the spigot our tolerance has level has gotten lower as well.  At the executive levels, many corporations will either not pay bonuses this year or not increase salaries.  As organizations scale back, the remaining work force is asked to take on more and greater tasks, roles and responsibilities for little, if any, pay increase.  Companies believe you should feel "lucky" to have a job and the result is a workforce that is overworked, underpaid (relatively speaking), stressed-out and re-evaluating their career choices.

It is times like these when we become acutely aware of how very tired we are of being in the "rat race".

It is times like these when we wish for more simplicity in our work and in our life. 

So what do you do once you have had this great epiphany?

If you're unemployed, you are most likely looking for anything that will bring income back into your household. If you're employed, chances are you're putting feelers out to find an organization that values you more and "feels" better.

Unfortunately, both situations can lead you right back to where you are.... 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but if you do not, at some point, think more critically about your career, nothing will ever change. 

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result.

You were born to be great.

YES, you can!

networking too

Networking is one of those areas in which one can engage in a lot of activity for little return if you aren't careful and/or strategic.  For some, networking is more about quantity than quality and they simply figure that if they collect enough people someone in the group is bound to be of benefit to them. 

Of course what's missing is that:

 1. Networking is about "relating" not collecting and

2. Networking is about mutual giving

Feel free to check out the original post by clicking here (Be a Networking Superstar).  I received lots of interesting feedback on the post but I wanted to share a blog post written by the medical sales recruiter.  She actually did a blog "series" on networking and offers some additional info and another perspective on networking that I thought you may find beneficial.  Click here to check it out.

You were born to be great.

YES, you can!

moving into action

Congratulations!  By now you have spent some time thinking about what you want to create in 2009 and hopefully you didn't limit yourself regarding what that looked like.  You deserve to dream big and you deserve to live a big vision - together we'll discuss how you get there.

Taking poetic license from the NBA, this is the year you get to play big or go home.

That's what I'm holding you to.

Playing big doesn't necessarily mean becoming President of the US.  Playing big could mean getting a college degree.  It could mean changing careers.  It could mean getting out of the rat race and starting your own business (full- or part-time).  It could mean relocating for a dream position.  It means stepping into who you always knew you could be (which could also mean stepping beyond what others think you can accomplish).  By the way, don't worry about what others think.

This is your life.

Your next assignment:

Now that you have a vision, there are two things to consider:

1.  What are the actions that will move you in that direction?

2.  Who do you have to be to actually get there?

Today, I want to focus on the first question.  Next time we'll tackle the second.

So what are the big steps to create the life you want?  Here is where you really get to consider the tapestry of your vision.  Do you currently have all the resources you require?  If you have an entrepreneurial vision, do you have what you need to get the ball rolling?  Do you have the right team of people around you?  If you want to get some sizzle back in your career, what does the sizzle look like?  Does it mean taking on greater responsibility in your current environment?  Does it mean creating something completely fresh and new?  Does it mean getting promoted or moving into a different department?  What is your strategy to get there?  

The devil is in the details as the saying goes.  I'm not asking you to develop a 20-page action plan (necessarily) but you definitely want to approach your objectives from a strategic perspective.  One that allows you to continually move toward creating your desired reality with intentionality and consciousness.   To the extent that you work through the action plan up front, 2009 becomes all about just executing the plan. 

Planning is the thing that generates the best results and is where most of us spend the least amount of time.  Trust me when I say....

Just do it. (Is there a sports theme going on here?)

In the coming week, we'll take a look at who you get to be while creating this amazing vision.  Doing without being most often leaves us exactly where we began.

You were born to be great.

YES, you can!