LOVING YOUR WOR…

LOVING YOUR WORK AND YOUR CUSTOMERS

If you don’t love your work, how can you love your customers?  If you don’t love your customers, how can you love your work?

You might say, as the Tina Turner song goes: “What’s love got to do, got to do with it.”

Love is an exchange-a giving and taking-accommodating your individuality to being in relationship or a network of relationships.

If you are in a committed relationship with another or a family, you work to keep that relationship alive by balancing the give and take between different wants and needs.  This process involves a constellation of feelings and emotions.  If successful, we call it a loving relationship.

If you are in business, you “give” products or services to customers to meet their wants and needs that also “give” them satisfaction.  In exchange, you take their money and also “take” their appreciation in the form of return business and referrals to expand your customer base.  If successful, we call this a thriving, profitable enterprise.

If we don’t love ourselves, it is unlikely that another will love us and we will lose the relationship with our loved ones.  If we don’t love our work, it is unlikely that we will provide products and services that we satisfy ourselves or our customers.  If we don’t love our customers, it is likely that we will provide inferior or unwanted products and services and we will lose the relationship with our customers.

The following are 5 steps to take in loving your work and your customers:

1. Know your wants and needs.  Hire a coach to identify those wants and needs you are committed to and implement a plan to achieve them.  (You’ve got to find what you love. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.   Steve Jobs)
2. Ask your customers what they want and need.  Don’t assume you know.
3. Make big promises to your customers and be sure you keep them.  Go outside your comfort zone in creating products and services that will surprise your customers.( If we don’t take care of our customers, someone else will .UNKNOWN)
4. Enroll you customers in goal-setting.  Make them part of your business planning process.
5. Celebrate your achievements with all your stakeholders-family, employees and customers.  Open houses, parties, and events give opportunities to express love for your products, services and customers.  (We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better.” ~ Jeff Bezos)

Take two of the five steps this month, the love month, and let me know what happened!

Lorenda Phillips of

The Essential Entrepreneur

310-910-0766

lorenda@the-ee.com

Goal Setting for Results

If you have ever seen a goal scored in a soccer match on Hispanic TV, first the ball arches over the body of the goalie guarding the goal post and crashes into the net; then you’ll hear the announcer wail the drawn out word  GOOOOAAAALLLL; the goal scorer will tear off his shirt and throw it to the crowd; the other players hoop, holler and fall on the scorer; and the spectators scream, whistle, cry and raise banners. Everyone is excited and inspired.

In soccer, it is obvious that a goal has been achieved to the agreement and satisfaction of all participants. Otherwise you would have two teams running up and down a field aimlessly kicking a ball.  There would be no excitement and inspiration, really no game. 

In business, you routinely set and complete goals. Do your goals measure achievements that excite and inspire you and your customers?  Following are some tips for you to follow in setting goals:

Make sure goals “feel good” and express your wants and needs rather than “look good” to impress  others.     

Embrace attainable “stretch” goals that inspire and challenge you 

Shun unreachable “strain” goals that will derail and demotivate you.  

Define your goals with clarity-be specific and detailed

Reassess your goals and don’t be afraid to adapt them to the changing environment

Make a list of your values-family etc-and make sure your goals are in alignment with your values.

Develop your goals with participation from your stakeholders-family, employees, customers, and business coach.

Prioritize goals-allocate your energy and resources to those with the highest priority

Remember to generate passion, enjoyment and celebration as you work towards accomplishing your goals.

Here is to a great New Year!

Completing 2011

We are at the beginning of another business year, and it is natural that we reflect on our balance sheet of profits, losses, successes and failures of the past year.    We may have mixed emotions as we ponder the ebbs and flows of the past year, but whatever our results, we need to close the books on 2011.

We have a choice in empowering ourselves to deal with the realities of the coming year.  We can enter 2012 as a continuation of 2011; or we can face the future as a new opportunity, not forgetting the past, but opening up to the possibility that the future is a unique and distinct, not just the past carried forward in time. My opinion?  We should draw a line in time.

Completion is that line.  It’s the conscious process to help us in freeing ourselves up for the future.  We need to create a sense of closure to truly complete this year so that we can powerfully face the coming year.   And, how do we create closure?  We say so.

Here are some questions to ask yourself.  The questions and answers will serve as vehicles to complete 2011 and draw that line in time.

1) What am I most proud of from this past year?

2) What worked for me in my business in 2011?

3) What were my biggest lessons in 2011?

4) What were my biggest disappointments in 2011?

5) What am I ready to let go of from this past year?

6) What didn’t work for me in my business in 2011?

7) What do I need to begin doing in 2012 that I didn’t do in 2011?

9) What do I need to stop doing in 2012 that I did in 2011?

10) What do I need to continue doing in 2012 that I did in 2011?

As you take some time to think about and write down your answers to these questions, see if you can reflect on this past year with a sense of appreciation of what running a business has taught you—the good and the bad.  And, whatever negative judgments come up because of shortfalls, I suggest letting them go.  

By completing your year, you will give yourself the gift of appreciation and peace, and allow an opening in which you can create your goals for 2012 with a sense of freedom, clarity and power.

Happy Old and Happy New Year!

Profit is the Winning Score in Business

Can you imagine watching the World Series without a scoreboard, or Dancing with the Stars without judges’ scorecards?  Either the events would become boring, or too random, or just plain would not work.  Same goes for your business, especially if you want to win!  Because how will you know if you are winning without scoring?

So then, what is the score in business?  Answer:  Money, and more specifically, PROFIT.  Profit is the winning score: the more profit, the bigger the winner. Some business owners keep their eye only on the money coming in, but that’s not the whole story.  You have to keep tabs on your spending to make sure you bring in a profit.  And, to recap, profit is AFTER all expenses including your pay and business taxes.  Even if you profit $1, you are winning. 

Why is profit so important?  It represents sustainability.  Your business can create a future, it can look itself in the mirror and say “You won in the game you created, now what’s next?”  Profitability gives you a future to grow into. 

Suggestions:  Take a look at your books.  It’s November 2010.  What is the score? Are you winning or losing?  If you are losing, what can you put into place immediately to turn the tide.  Remember, it’s not over ‘til the fat lady sings!

Communication Styles

Have you ever left a sales presentation (or any meeting for that matter), wondering what went wrong? You thought you were on the same page, but by the end you were on Venus and she was on…Rutabaga? You planned for the meeting, arrived on time, were courteous, you had a great idea, so why did things go south, so very, very south?

Could be you have diabolically opposite styles of communication. While you are focusing on all the statistical detail of the features of your product, your decision maker’s eyes might be glazing over, long past listening to your presentation. It would be much better if you spoke about the big picture, or maybe how the product would impact the group (the team, the company, etc), or maybe how much more enjoyable work would be if she purchased your product.

To sort out this dilemma, there are a couple of things to look at: 1. What are the different styles, 2. What kind of style do I have, 3. What kind of style do they have and 4. How can I tell what their style is in advance of the meeting?

There are four distinct Styles of Communication:
Director–Likes the bottom line, big picture, quick paced
Presenter–He’s a player, usually in sales, entertainer and story teller. Live of the party type
Mediator–Consensus builder, slower paced, makes sure everyone gets a say.
Strategist–She’s detail focused, slower paced and looks for evidence.

Review the above styles and identify your preferred style of communication. Now, review your past experience with the person you will be meeting. Here are some questions to ask yourself: How is their pace? Are they big picture focused, always talking about the vision or the future? Are they entertaining, like to talk, tell stories? Or, are they detail orientated, love statistics, follow the rules to the letter?

Do the best you can to create your presentation with THEM and with their style in mind.

Even if you don’t hit it on the nail, you will be miles ahead of your past presentations, because you will be designing them with your decision maker in mind. You will not only deliver what they want but how they like it to be delivered!! Those of you who are strategists and directors (the hard headed of the four styles), try to use your opposite style for a day. You just might find you can be flexible (something that is usually hard for you to do) with others in order to make the sale or get others to agree with you.

I will be speaking in more detail about communication styles and how you can close– bring in more deals, and have more productivity in meetings.  Let me know if you are interested.

Figuring out the financial viability of your business, Part II

Earlier I wrote about using a business model to figure out what you want financially from your business using a massage therapist as an example. In this post I will use a contractor as an example. Jim, contractor for 5 years, wants to make $100,000.00 in one year. The question is, how much revenue does he need to collect to make that number?
Let’s figure out the average job: $30,000.00. Subs are about $12,000. Business Expenses (truck, phone, office, utilities, admin/sales, marketing) are about $8,000. What remains is $10,000. This contractor will need 10 jobs in one year at $30,000 a job to make $100,000.00. He needs to make $300,000 Gross Sales, about one job of $30,000 per month. Why am I slicing it in a few ways, but really repeating myself? Because many entrepreneurs do not get it. They get a big job, are very focused on the delivery of the job, and are shocked when all that money is gone. Jim could cut the staff, but how does the business run while he is managing the crew, bidding on proposals, and being the face of the business? It is important to weigh expenses and the value those services are to the business. I recommend that marketing is the last line item expense to cut. Marketing is the life blood of your business. By an ongoing campaign to market your business, you will not hit the financial valleys as often. However regarding cutting expenses, even those you do not want to cut, sometimes you have to do what you have to do. Without a doubt, you must continuously look at the money of your business: what comes in and what goes out.

Figuring out the financial viability of your business

Sometimes we just jump in.  We have a vision, well, maybe not even a vision, maybe it’s not that fancy.  Maybe we have a thought, yes, a thought to be a business owner.  We think we have a product or service that our potential clients would need and would buy from us. We put out the proverbial “Open for Business” sign (create, market, sell), provide the produce or service and we start making money.   Yet often, somewhere down the road, sometimes in the 3^rd month of business, sometimes in the 3^rd year, we discover the profits our company generates are sadly not enough.

Work on your Strengths for a Better Return on Investment

Statistics indicate you are better off working on your strengths than working on your weaknesses. Investing in, practicing on, your strong suit is statistically a better ROI.. Tiger Woods works 90% of his time on the long shot (his strength) and 10% on the short shot (not his strength).  He should have probably spent some time working on his marriage, but that’s another post.  The point is:  he is a master golfer with many, many championships to his credit, and he works overwhelmingly on this strengths.

Take it on -
In your selling process, choose a strength and weakness. Perhaps you are excellent at establishing rapport and relationship, but are not so good at the closing stage.  All the schools of thought are: you must be a strong closer. Well, yes, asking for the order is important, but it’s not everything! I’ve known some masterful sales people who rarely asked for that order, but who could charm the birds out of the trees, and they didn’t need a smooth closing. To be clear, I am not advocating to abandon working on your weak areas, but rather, spend more time working on your strengths, you’ll feel more confident and have more fun because you are perfecting what you are already good at. 

My friends at the world renowned Gallup Group agree, and one of their #1 New York Times Bestselling Authors, Tom Rath, has written a book called Strengths Finder 2.0.  You can take their quick online assessment and identify your strengths.  Then get to work on improving your natural talents!  A good tip is to support people in what they are good at and if you do, chances are you will find yourself in a more positive, growth environment.

“Working” is the operative word in Networking

I live in Los Angeles and there are over 5,000 networking events every week here.  Truthfully, I just made that number up, but there are a lot of events, week in and week out.  Over the 16 years I have been a business owner, I have made my way though many of these –weekdays,  weeknights , weekends,  all women, all chamber, Young Professionals, Over 50, West LA, Orange County, Rotarian, Largest Mixer.   Speed Networking, 30 second commercials, coffees…you name it, I’ve probably done it.  I thought it was time I weighed in.

Does networking work?  That depends on what you are looking for.  Remember when your mom said you have to kiss a lot of frogs?  Your mom might not have said that, but you know the expression.  Well, it applies to networking.  Lots of frog kissing is required until you find a match.  It takes time and money to weed out the ones that don’t work if you take the “large net” theory.  If you can focus in, you are better off.  Here are some questions to ask yourself to narrow the field:

1.  What do I want out of networking?  Clients?  Referral Partners? Vendors?  Comaraderie?  Connection?

2. Where do these folks hang out?

3.  Go there, and stay there so people get to know you  (not a question, sorry)

I wanted to find new clients, find good vendors, get out of the office, have fun and connect.  This is what I have narrowed it down to for my networking needs:  LeTip–a once a week, no competition organization that acts as my sales force, and LeTip is full of my potential clients.   A women’s group–Women’s Business Connection–a once a month gathering in a local restaurant, lots of mingling, 30 sec commercials.  Chamber:  LAX and West LA- a couple times a month.   I get 80% of my business from LeTip; 15% from the chambers, and I am connected to the business community and have a great vendor pool; and I get some business from the women’s group and a lot of love.  I have fun at all of these events. 

Given there are so many possible networking events every day, night, week and month, make your choice wisely based on what you are looking for and eventually you will find a great match.

Let me know your feelings.  If you want more information about the organizations I belong to, give me a call at 310-910-0766.

Don’t Give Away the Store

 

 

How many of us have needed a great employee to boost sales, fulfillment or operations, and saw the only way to get them on board was to offer them a piece of the business?

Most of the time it turns ugly, ask Mark Zuckerberg about Eduardo Saverin.  Here are some tips on avoiding the cash drain or the “I’ll see you in court” disgruntled employee.

Instead of a piece of the business–

• Offer a percentage of the company up to a certain amount
• Offer a smaller percentage and salary as it builds
• Offer a salary as long as Gross Sales are X (avoid what Susan Southerland did as reported in the month’s Inc. Magaine’s Case Study http://www.inc.com/magazine/201107/case-study-should-this-wedding-planner-fire-her-best-friend.html.)
• Not everyone is motivated entirely by $$, find out what he/she wants, and deliver it if possible.

 Remember to 1. Put the agreement in writing (have an attorney look at it–$200 in fees will save you in the long run), and 2.  Have a time limit.  Without a doubt, things change, your employee agreements are no exception.

Finally, remember who is the creator of the company, who takes all the risks, and who is usually the one to turn out the lights.  You should protect her (or him).