Our Newest Trend Setter Package Client

Upward Trend is thrilled to announce our latest Trend Setter Package client, Corby's Collision, Inc. of Vacaville. Paul Troutner is the owner. We should have their new website and blog up within two weeks.

Since we announced the Trend Setter Package in April, here is the growing list of clients with this valuable service:

• Corby's Collision, Vacaville
• Talk of the Town Salon, Vacaville
• Duya, Inc., Vacaville
• Van Hatten Writing Services, Vacaville
• Green Valley Floral, Fairfield
• North Bay Truck Body, Fairfield
• Vaca Valley Truck & SUV, Vacaville
• Tamara Hansen, Realtor, Vacaville
• ServPro of Fairfield
• Grindco Concrete Grinding, Sacramento
• North Bay Truck Center, Fairfield
• Fairfield Chevrolet-Isuzu Truck, Fairfield
• Queen of Marketing, Vacaville

Find out more about this awesome and very inexpensive package of services, see our new website at www.upwardtrend.org.

Practice Is Just As Valuable As The Sale--Or Is It More? - Part 2

A couple days ago, I posted an article about practice being as important, or even more important than making the sale. I didn't intend to write a supplemental piece about this, but today changed my mind.

Today I realized so clearly how valuable practice can be, and is and how much better practice is than the sale. Today, I arrived. I arrived at the place that every sales person either wants or needs to be, or they should at the very least consider strongly. I arrived at full confidence in what I am doing.

Oh, I've arrived there before in other fields of endeavor, but today I arrived as an Internet Marketer and Consultant. Now, to put that into perspective, in September of 2007, I was completely unknowledgeable about websites, how to build them, what they were about, how they worked. In October of 2007, I built my first website using an online builder. It was terrible. But I kept doing it and they got better. The second website was in January of 2008. What's interesting about that is that I decided in that short time to go into business in that field. I know, that is insane. Knowing so little about something and taking that plunge.

But here's the deal. I got better and tried lots of things and learned and learned and read, attended seminars and learned. Even in March of 2008, neither my partner nor I even knew what a blog was. Scary. Now we build blogs like crazy. Weird. SEO, or Search Engine Optimization is another strange thing. What does that mean? Now we do this without even thinking of it that way. And, so much more.

Our focus was on one thing: providing valuable service to our clients. That is what we have done and the rest has come in regular doses to the point that today I decided that I have arrived at the level of full confidence in what I do in this field. I can even talk with people with far more experience than I and even occasionally teach them something. It is a great place to be.

And, get this--I can't write one line (even a short one) of HTML code, or JAVA or any other coffee brand. It matters not because I don't need to. Because the Internet was a complicated thing in my head, I needed to demystify it for myself so that I could understand how to make use of it. That very demystification is what we use to help our clients understand it as well. We're not web guys, but sales guys who use web tools to help businesses grow their business. If we don't know something, it's easy enough to find out.

Now, I can go talk to anyone I want and feel confident that it will not only make sense, but also appeal to their better instincts. This is tough to do without confidence and this confidence has only come from the practice. It is far more valuable than the sale. That confidence creates and stimulates enterprise. It builds companies. The sale is a side benefit.

Practice Is Just As Valuable As The Sale

"Practice is just as valuable as a sale.

The sale will make you a living;

The skill will make you a fortune."

-- Jim Rohn

I have loved this quote from my mentor, Jim Rohn since I first heard it in 1981. I love the whole concept of it and how he makes the journey even more valuable than the destination. I agree wholeheartedly that it is the practice, the journey, the living of it daily that makes the whole worthwhile.

I know a lot of sales people who work somewhere and move to another and another and they never seem to grow--matter of fact, it seems like they go backward a few steps. It's not a career, it's just a job, sort of like someone being hired out on an hourly basis, or job by job basis. There's no accumulation factor. It doesn't make sense to me to spend the time on the sale or destination and ignoring the value of the skill accumulation or the value of the journey.

Wouldn't it be different to have gathered knowledge and skills that can be used in different ways later, like writing a book about the journey, using the skills gained to turn it into a whole new career either in your own business or working in a different company or industry. Then you'd be moving up to gather even more experience and skills toward the next twist in the road.

None of this would happen if you didn't practice, learn, and accumulate skills, knowledge, stories, wisdom. What a loss it would be to not take advantage of those things. Those opportunities could be worth millions in time, compared with thousands not paying attention to what is important.

Learn to value the practice. Learn to value the journey. Destinations are good, but even once you get to a destination, you must begin moving toward another. By learning to value practice and the journey, the destinations will be improving over time rather than regressing or maintaining the status quo.

This is not only great advice for an individual, but also a company.

Some Business Investments Can Have A Huge Payoff--Later.

"If I had eight hours to cut down a big tree,

I'd spend 6 hours sharpening the axe."

-- Abraham Lincoln

I absolutely love this quote and it speaks many things to me so succinctly. It speaks about preparation. If you are in sales and working on some big clients, spending three fourths of your time in preparing will generally have a huge payoff. Lawyers do that all the time. Their court time is so small in comparison with their preparation time and that is what makes all the difference in the outcome.

If you're growing your business, much of the time you spend will be not directly earning money or profit, but it can be extremely beneficial in influence which will ultimately lead to much greater income and profit. Some of that can be done through networking and this can be done in many ways, such as through local Chamber of Commerce, Business Networking Groups like LeTip, BNI and hundreds of others, at trade shows and events, through your website, blog, newsletter and other Internet publications. It is this last one that I want to deal with in this piece.

Not having a website is like not owning a phone. It is a must. It should be effective and it should not stand alone if you want it to work for you. A blog. A blog is just a website for the most up to date content and it allows you to show even more personality in your business and have some fun and gain influence. An email newsletter is a perfect way to stay in touch with all of your current clients and prospects. You can gain more influence to people who find you through others, so it is also a great networking tool. You can post it on Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites as well to let more people become familiar with it. These tools, when working together are extremely powerful and beneficial.

The website needs to be current and constantly expanding. Shoot for a page a month to continually add to it. Everything is searchable by search engines, but if it isn't on your website, it cannot be searched. The blog need not be updated daily, but should have 5-10 posts per month to be more effective. Everything on a blog is also searchable. The newsletter list should be growing every week. You may only send it once a month, but your database should be constantly growing.

Through time, all of these products become a symphony of activity on the Internet, all of them working together like a well-oiled machine directed toward your business enterprises and your continuing success and growth. It is the consistency of these activities that pays off big. Doing these for a short time or one time is of extremely little value in comparison. Your web properties will continue to give you influence as they are expanded and continually improved. 

We recommend that you find a service that will help you take care of insuring these things are all done well and done on a consistent basis. This is one of our specialties. Our Trend Setter Package recently announced has completely revamped our Internet services at a fraction of the previous cost. Now every business can afford the Internet presence of a much larger business. And the services mentioned above is only a part. There is much more that will get you up in the search engines, along with social networking. Visit our new website at http://www.upwardtrend.org/ for more information.

On Site Events and How To Make Them Work

"Nothing draws a crowd like a crowd."

-- P. T. Barnum

Having participated in many on site events and done them myself, I have learned many things about how to make them work. I learned mostly from watching what I did and what others did and thought about how to improve that. As an example, I once sent 10,000 flyers out for an event that drew 50 people and most of them were not among the 10,000 addressees. Sad affair, and I had the factory rep there too. I went all out to have the event staged, but it didn't help.

Then, I have seen successful events and paid close attention to the differences in timing, the day of the week, the hours and you name it. So I learned a lot of things by seeing them done well too.

Here's some questions I like to ask those who are planning an event:

• Why? What is your objective in having this event?
• If it were a perfect event, after it was all over, what would it look like or what would have transpired or been achieved?
• Are you willing to spend a bit more to have a much better result?
• Who is your target customer? Who are you doing this for?
• Think about how busy you are all day long. What would make you really want to spend the time and energy to attend your own event? In other words, what's in it for them? How will it benefit them?

Here's some typical advice I offer:

• Get the biggest draw you can afford to help get people there, even if they are not your target audience. This may be a monster truck, race car, clown show, 100 lbs of barbecued tri-tip, a football star, some celebrity, and more. Something very popular would be best. An open house at your store is a very weak draw typically. The draw is the key!
• Marketing the event. If you have event marketing people in your area, hiring them can really help you get more people there. Set your advertising to tease 2 to 4 weeks out and then stronger near the event. Target your key clients through telephone, email and personal contact. If you have a newsletter, advertise the event 8 to 10 weeks out. Consider radio remote broadcast. If you're a member of the local Chamber of Commerce, you can advertise at their events and through their venues, and more. Get the word out often and as effectively as possible.
• If you're serving food and I hope you are, then spend a little more and make it quality food. Cooking hamburgers and hot dogs yourself is not a draw, and it is not quality--it's cheap. My best advice for a successful event is to have it catered where they come and cook and serve and clean up the mess and you don't need to be involved in it. Delegate. Hire it out and get a good one. If the budget is too small, I highly recommend not having the event.
• Have music. I highly recommend that you hire a sound person and/or DJ to take care of this by bringing good equipment, taking care of the music and having a quality mike to give announcements so everyone can hear them. This is the point most events miss in my experience and I think it is critical. You want to be able to communicate with a crowd, since that's what you are going to draw. Upbeat music is energizing, soothing and fills the empty space. Not too loud, not too soft, and the sound people know how to do that best. It is very important part of a great event.
• Vendors. There's not much worse than inviting vendors to an event--especially if you are asking them to pay for the privilege and/or bring raffle prizes--and then have a poorly attended event. Wasting your own time is one thing, but wasting all your vendors is another. You will need to insure your event is set up in such a way that the vendors are centrally located so that people at the event are drawn to the vendors, or that tickets are issued where each vendor has to sign off in order to qualify for the raffle, or something like that. Use your sound system to make announcements regularly.
• Insure that things start on time and move smoothly. Timing of things must be orchestrated by someone, so make sure someone is assigned that duty.
• Raffles. Calling numbers and having people not be there is not good. Have raffles throughout the period of the event so there is always something going on. Have a lot of raffle prizes even if many of them are minor prizes or logo-branded give aways. I recommend about every 15 minutes and stay on track with the time. If people must be present to win, you might want to have the raffles in a time frame where most everyone is there, so it won't be at the end of the event.
• If you're having various presentations, announce those to help direct people to the right place at the right time.
• If it is a large event, consider having some entertainment. This could be an artist drawing caricatures of people, walking magician doing little tricks moving around, clowns with balloons if there are younger ones, musicians, and such.
• Think of it this way: the event should be full throttle from start to finish without stopping or slowing down. As soon as the event opens, it is full on, music, food smells, events going on, entertainment, vendors, announcements, raffles, etc. and keep it going right up to the final bell. Most events I have seen have peaks and valleys and more valleys than peaks. The best events peak throughout. This requires thought, planning, delegation and care. It will be worth it.

Here's a few optional thoughts:

• It is a great idea to filter people through an introduction area. You might even then get their information including company, name, email, etc. for follow up. It is also a great idea to have name tags so people can network with each other more effectively, or communicate more effectively. If you do this, it must be able to handle the flow of people so that there isn't a line. Nobody likes waiting in line and especially to just get in to your event.
• Another great idea is to filter people through an exit area. This is a perfect time to give them some of your materials, handouts, parting gifts, etc. and to quickly thank them for taking the time to come to your event.
• Having your people in full force and mingling throughout the crowd is important and will help the event perhaps be more effective for you. Your people can make sure things are flowing and that people are having a good time and answering any questions that they may have, such as where the bathroom is, etc. Speaking of bathrooms, make sure that is covered in such a way as people can be comfortable.
• Have lots of good drinks available and ideally in several areas so people can partake as they desire.
• Usually, the longer they stay, the more opportunity you have, so a boring event or poorly run event will cause people to leave quickly, whereas a well run event, people stay sometimes throughout the time.
• Lunch time is a very good time where people can legitimately leave their work for a time during the week. 11am to 2pm is a good window of time. That's three hours to stay at peak performance and serving food the whole time, or you could state that food will be served from 11:30am to 1pm while the whole event is 11am to 2pm, although, I think having food the entire event time is best. Many times when the food goes, so do the people and then your event will fizzle from there.
• Make sure there is adequate and effective parking. You might even consider a valet service or if it is a large event a shuttle of some kind.
• Weekend events would be best only for general public things and you will need a strong draw. For businesses, I think the weekday is best and Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are the best days of the week from my experience.
• Breakfast events are much harder to do well. Dinner events are great too, but they will require a bit more budget and more entertainment and other unique draws.
• Have vendors please stay to the end. As soon as they start packing, the event is over. Keep it full on start to end.
• Partner with others when you can. One commercial truck dealership partnered with a Lowe's Home Improvement store and used their parking lot a half a block from the dealership. This allowed Lowe's people to have give aways, and supply vendors for some associated items and to be an effective partner. That worked really well and they usually have a great event there.
• Follow up and follow through. Send thank you's to all vendors and partners and your own team members for their help and their valuable time and skills. Follow through with quotes and other activities that you created at the event.

Good events require good planning, attention to detail, and orderly execution, along with a team assigned to the various tasks necessary. This is an old adage, but ever true: If you're going to do it, do it well. I hope some of this may be helpful and I wish that your next event is the best event!

Chuck The Plan. Pull Out The Dream.

"In theory there is no difference between theory and practice.

But, in practice, there is."

-- Jan L.A. van de Snepscheut

The Crystal Performance Ball is a business game that I've seen played widely. It entails creating business plans with lots of charts and graphs of projected revenues from the varied revenue streams which comes from the product spin-offs as the successful core is manipulated by the strategic marketing department by increasing the market share and expanding the demographic to encompass the ever widening advantages from the incentive based sales team.

With this empowered perspective, the sales management team has instituted a projection system and requirement for the sales staff to tell management what will be sold to whom over the specified period so that sales management can instruct production what to produce. Once produced, the quality control department will meet to determine quality issues and their solutions for the service department to entertain after the customer has taken delivery and made the second complaint. . .

Of course in theory this makes sense (well, sort of. . .) and though we practice it in our theory, it is the actual practice that has us hiding under the covers. And, it's no wonder. This is all so much crap. All for someone elses ego, I suppose, but not for a real purpose that I can think of. In all the years I've had to deal with this stuff, it has been a total waste of good energy and time. It is all so unnecessary and extremely ineffective.

Chuck the plan. Pull out the dream. Draw the dream and speak the dream for the team. Live the dream. Be the dream. Share the dream. Keep the dream alive. Without the dream, it is a hollow machine.

Marketing and Innovation Produce Results

"Because its purpose is to create a customer, the business has two basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs." -- Peter Drucker

I was looking at some quotes to use in the CTS Daily Inspirations Blog and ran across this great quote from the management guru, Peter Drucker. It got me thinking about that and businesses that I have worked for and worked with over a long period of time. Here are the thoughts as a result.

I love this quote because I also agree with it; however, almost every business that I have been associated with missed one of the critical two points: innovation.

All of them got the first part--marketing--well, sort of. They talked like they were all about marketing. But their marketing was stereotypical and stale. They might use brochures, flyers, specials, newspaper advertising, specialty publication ads, yellow pages. . . you know. . . marketing--or is it? Some would "target market" and others would "mass market," all in the hopes of increased sales and revenue. Same old stuff which didn't much make a difference in the past and maybe they just didn't do it enough. You know, repetition is the name of the game and all that.

To me, marketing is so much simpler, yet so broad in scope. In my experience, marketing is fastened at the hip to innovation and when innovation is lacking, marketing goes down with it. I think it is innovation that makes all the difference. Just think Apple: iphone, iride, ipod, ipad, irun, ijogg, ihear, ido. Yes. Innovation.

Okay, so you're not Apple and not Steve Jobs. Maybe you're a body company or a truck dealership. So, you hire an outside sales team and go out and tell the story over and over. Take a demo and show it off, tell them about the specials you got going on and what the incentives are for them to buy today. Boring. Of course, you already know that if Apple did that, they would be an Apple Core. It is the innovation that completely revived this once headed for the heap company. And, there's no question about Steve Jobs being a strong leader, but that can be done in your company too. If you really want to and you start seeing a different picture.

Do you think Apple salespeople have a hard time selling an iPad? or an iPhone? It's a piece of cake in the sales world, but only because of the innovative quality of the product. They have some nice marketing too, but again, that goes along for the ride. In a sluggish economy, their innovation is driving serious profits and new heights. What about your company? Or my company?

As a former 10-year body rep, I can tell you without a doubt that innovation would make all the difference. There is absolutely nothing as valuable in the marketplace as enthusiasm and enthusiasm is driven by innovation. Going out and telling the same tired story is torture--for the salesperson and the prospect. Repackaging the same old stuff is nice, but it is the same old stuff still. All that's left is cutting the price. What we need is new stuff: new solutions, new design, new materials, new effectiveness, new colors, new textures, newer and cooler and greener--in other words, innovation.

The same would be true of truck dealerships. Mass marketing has long lost its results. As a truck dealer, you don't control the chassis design, or body design, but here's the good news: you control everything else! How those two things are combined can be innovative. How the services are offered and performed need not be old, boring, same. They can be innovative services. There are a wealth of ways that innovation can take place and therefore drive marketing to new places in every dealership in the country.

No, you're not Apple, or Microsoft, or whomever is the Hot One at the moment, but you certainly qualify as a candidate, and so do I.

The Number One Asset of a Very Good Sales Person

"People who ask confidently get more than those who are hesitant and uncertain. When you've figured out what you want to ask for, do it with certainty, boldness and confidence."

-- Jack Canfield

"People don't buy for logical reasons. They buy for emotional reasons."

-- Zig Ziglar

Having spent over 38 years in the sales game, most of it as a sales manager, I can say without the slightest hesitancy that the number one asset of a very good sales person is summed up in one single word: confidence.

Strangely enough, it is not an inborn skill, but a learned one, and the strange part is that so few really learn it, and it is something that every single sales person needs.

The other thing I learned about this from all these years is that the method to achieve confidence can be summed up in one word: boldness. If one has a degree of boldness, one will try things that others shy away from. Boldness, then will create the trial and error, and the results of the trial and error will create the confidence.

It doesn't require any more intelligence than good common sense would dictate, what being good at sales requires is desire, a willingness to put yourself out there, learn from trying and doing and failing and succeeding, and improving to the point of being confident in ones ability to succeed.

That's as simple as it gets.

All the rest is sharpening the saw and lubricating the parts.

Confidence Is The Result Of A Trial And Success Game.

Put yourself out there today. Get some trial and success play going. It'll do you good!

The 'C' Word Is More Than Four Letters

Regardless of whether you’re in business for yourself, working for someone, or even in your personal life, I would like to make one recommendation: Forget about what other people are doing and concentrate on you and what you do.

In business, I’m sick of the ‘C’ word, competition. I think that any company that is focused on their competition is focusing on failure. Being concerned about the competition and what they do or do not do will not serve a growth-oriented business, but, instead, it must take them off course by the very nature of that focus on the so called competition.

Who cares what ‘their’ prices are, their features are, their incentives are, or their policies are. What really matters is what yours are. What really matters is you focusing on your clients and serving their needs and desires exclusively. What matters is, as Anthony Robbins teaches, CANi—Constant and Never-Ending Improvement. What matters is innovation. What matters is growth—not only the company, but everyone that touches the company. What matters is your own success, not the guy down the street.

I’ve worked for or been around car dealers most of my life and a typical Chevy dealer will say his number one competition is the Chevy dealers in his area. The typical Ford dealer will say her number one competition is the Ford dealers in their area. You might have thought that the Ford store would be concerned about the Chevy store, but that is not the case. They worry about their sales being undercut by other people selling the same product.

As a sales manager for over 35 years, I hear whining from sales people about another sales person getting their customer. I would always respond that if they didn’t ask for you, they weren’t your customer, even if they bought from you in the past. That same philosophy applies to the entire dealership. If they aren’t buying from you, they aren’t your customer. There is nothing to lose, because you don’t have it to lose. You allowed someone else to have it based on how you serve, or perhaps, don’t serve your customers. This applies to everyone in a store from the lowest rank to the owner, to the manufacturer.

Whatever your position, ask yourself, what are you doing to wow your customers and potential customers? What are you doing to improve services? What are you doing to make it easier for customers to buy from you? What are you doing to innovate? What are you doing to improve your operation? What are you doing to be of more service? What are you doing that might matter to a customer? And, conversely, take a quick look at what you’re not doing and what you might stop doing that could lead to greater success.

People who are leading are not concerned about what everyone else is doing. Companies that are leading are not concerned about what every other company is doing. Sales people who are leading are not concerned about any other sales people, or their customer base. Leaders are leading. Others may follow or not. That isn’t the concern. Leaders are leading and that makes ALL the difference.

Undercover Boss Is A Great Idea

The new TV show called, Undercover Boss on CBS is an interesting show. If you haven't seen it yet, the CEO of a large company goes undercover with a video crew as an entry level employee with the concept of the video crew as documenting entry level employee jobs.

I love the concept of the show of the CEO doing this because it gives the CEO a birds-eye view of how their decisions affect the people who are on the front line. In that and the revelations that follow, this is good. The show is a little too sweet and predictable after the first show was made. Now they all look like the same thing redone.

Speaking to CEO's and managers, when was the last time you really took a good look at how what you do affects what is being done on the front line? How is the phone being answered? How are customers communicated with? How are customer complaints resolved? What is the attitude of the front line employees? How are the managers dealing with front line employees? What are customers saying about their experience with your company? How are things improved?

These are a few and there are a lot more similar questions that can be asked to find out how your company is doing and I highly recommend that every CEO and high level manager find out. As they demonstrate in the TV show, Undercover Boss, there is a lot of disconnect from the top to the bottom. Whatever that can be done to improve this is worth doing for the employees and the customers.

Creating Abundance Instead of Scarcity, Part 1

Every business loves scarcity and would like to have more of it. . . if they had what was scarce in quantity. Think about that. They love to have scarcity as long as they have abundance. It is sort of the definition of selfish: the smaller the pie, the better, as long as I have more than anyone else.

Market share. That is an interesting phrase. I remember when I was young, General Motors used to have over 50% market share. What is it today? Yet, they still spend so much time focusing on that phrase, market share. How big is my piece of the pie? I want more of the pie than anyone else and that will make me successful. . . Why not just focus on being the best that you can be regardless of who is doing what? The public could care less what your market share is. This is ego run amok.

Competition. Some companies spend an inordinate amount of time focused on competing with other companies. That reminds me of follow the leader--of course, that is after you figure out who the leader is. There is a lot of time spent analyzing just that: who is leading? Why not save time, energy and committee's by just leading? Comparing ourselves, our product or our company to others is not helpful. It is a total and complete waste of time, energy and people-power.

Fear. Protectionism. There is plenty of this all around, and no need to manufacture any more of it, yet companies and managers are so fearful of information being obtained by others. Computers are locked down so no one can go to Facebook, Linkedin, YouTube, MySpace, and a few million other off-limits places. We protect ourselves from ourselves to the degree that we cannot grow. Rather than think of protecting the company from harm, think of how those sites can be used to expand the company! What if all of your employees were promoting your business through social networking rather than saying that other stuff about how lame you are, etc. Take a lemon and make lemonade?

I've seen a good deal of this kind of thinking in my travels and consulting with truck dealers, body companies and others. There is so much more value to be had by thinking differently and more openly. Keeping the cards close to your vest in an Internet world where information is free is counterproductive. Instead, think like an entrepreneur and make use of this most awesome tool. Open the floodgates and let the games begin!

Raley's Supermarket: Leading or Following?

Yesterday I stopped at my favorite Raley's grocery store and as I was checking out, I slid my ATM card through the little pay device, then changed my mind to use cash. There was no way to cancel it on my end, so the checker had to do it. This is a newer system they recently installed. The old system had a cancel button. This got me to thinking a bit and I mentioned to the checker that sometimes new systems are not an improvement from the old. How many times have you run across the same thing? Some new thing or change is supposed to be so much better and your experience is the opposite.

So, after my remark to the clerk, she said that they changed it because the competition had a system like it, so we had to. I thought for a moment and said to her, there is no competition when you are leading. I have always thought of Raley's as the leader. I know places that are cheaper and bigger and they are nearby, but I have always chosen Raley's on purpose because I like the experience--the feel, if you will. I never even thought of them as competing against Safeway and others.

People get so hung up on competition. Really. Who cares what the store down the street or across town is doing? Lead. Carve your own path. Make your own decisions. Go boldly where no business has been before. . . It is the land of no competition. Let go of the competitive thinking and just focus on you being the best you and your business being the best business. You will never, ever get all the customers anyway. Just give the best: the best service, the best value, the best experience. I don't mean the best in the marketplace. That would be competing again. I mean the best that you've got to give. And, at the same time, it pays to keep your edge sharp by continual learning and growing so you can give ever better service, value and experience.

There is no competition when you are leading. Let the rest follow you!

We Tried That. That Stuff Don't Work!

It is amazing how many times I have heard these two phrases. We are always offering suggestions to improve business and much of what we offer is tried and proven over and over again. Yet, we still hear these phrases.

I've learned over a long period of time that "swimming upstream" with people is not good for me or them, so when I hear these phrases, I might swim upstream a stroke or two and take another approach with them, but if I don't hear any interest in a few seconds, I completely back off and agree with them and find a way to leave quickly.

This just happened yesterday again and I just turned and floated back downstream and let them continue to say as I was leaving, "we tried that and it didn't work. . ." Oh, he even said how long he tried it: he tried it for four weeks. Whew! I'm glad he gave it his all. Four weeks. That's a long time. He also said that the customers came in, but they didn't act as he wanted them to, so he quit it. Well, there ya go! Four weeks, customers not doing as we want, we're out of here. . .

Of course, you are more willing to hear the whole pitch and to listen to the ideas and to see if they make sense and to try to understand, right? If others are successful using the idea, you might think that it could pay off for you as well, right? It could happen.

Let's change the phrase: We tried that and it changed our business forever! It is the most successful thing we ever did! Thank you!

When People Are Left To Their Own . . .

When people are left to their own volition, you get to see their character. It's what people do when no one is looking or supervising that is important.

I see people who look busy, but it is obvious to me (an outsider looking in) that they are just looking busy for the sake of looking like they are doing something. When you don't want to be at work, it is more obvious than some may think.

What a boring, slow-moving day this makes. What an ineffective employee this makes. What an ineffective business this makes.

The answer is motivation. Yet this is not an easy thing. The real, effective motivation must come from within the employee. The management can only spark the motivation by helping the employee realize their own motives and make better use of them. The best way for both is to tie the work to the employee's highest values and that probably is not money, but something else more powerful. Find what those things are and the business and employees will thrive.

Finding Good People Is Not An Option

Whatever you want to call this economic period we are moving through, the focus is on the bad news, yet there are so many good things that happen. For example, one business I talked with said that the slowdown gave him the perfect reason to get rid of some under performers and make his company more effective.

A few days ago, I went into Jos. A Banks clothing store to look at suits. They had a huge sale going on. I was the only customer in the store. I was greeted by a salesman and almost immediately got into a disagreement about their ad. I had it in writing and he was saying I was incorrect. I let it go. I told him what I was looking for and he took me to the suit rack. He guessed my size fairly close and to check it, gave me a suit jacket to put on. It didn't fit well. He was saying things to try and convince me that it did, buy I know when it doesn't fit, so don't you think he should? We moved up one size and it fit perfectly. He pointed out where the suits in my size were and he left. . . well, you're probably getting the idea, but it went from bad to worse and finally after being in the store only about 8-10 minutes, I said, I have to leave now and I just walked out. One of the worst salesmen I have ever encountered. I wouldn't buy a pair of socks from him, otherwise I might be encouraging him. They lost a nice sale and haven't even got a clue. Too bad. I truly cannot imagine this company lasting much longer here. Men's Warehouse is no better in this city. I have to leave town to get better. Sad.

Not to accentuate the negative, but in this economy with many looking for work, this spells opportunity to me. Get rid of the warm bodies and find someone who can excel. Now is the perfect time! When business is so good, it is harder to find good talent and you might have to accept a few warm bodies. Now is an opportunity.

And, I cannot leave this without spelling one of the most important words for an employee: T-R-A-I-N-I-N-G. There is almost never enough of that going on. Of course, it may make all the difference.

Wisdom of the Ages

"You are what you repeatedly do.
Excellence is not an event--it is a habit."

- Aristotle (384-322 BC)

"Our life is what our thoughts make it."

- Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD)

I love quotations and see many of them each day. They are thought starters and catch me quickly and lend me a tidbit of wisdom to mull over throughout the day. It amazes me when I see quotes like these. We get to thinking that these ideas are fairly new, yet they are very, very old. The question I have is, knowing this fact, why is it that I learn these things clearly in my later life? Where were the teachers teaching this wisdom in the first 40 years?

It must be that we get focused on the now and what's happening and let go of the real wisdom in search of the quick fixes. Alas, I am now paying close attention and am open to the wisdom of the ages. Aristotle and Aurelius are reborn!

How Much? It Is Totally Up To You.

How much are you willing to do to have things get better? What more will you do? Will you find time to network with other people and business owners? How much will you prosper?

Many people blame. They blame circumstances. They blame events outside their control. They blame other people. With this approach, I can very easily predict your future: More of the same.

A positive change in results is not dependent on outside circumstances, events, or other people. It is totally up to you. You are always in charge and you always have been. You decide and you dictate results with your thinking.

Not enough time or energy for a once a month chamber mixer where you can meet 50 new people in one place at one event? No problem. You get to keep your current results a little longer.

Not enough time or energy to read a helpful book? No problem. You get to keep your current results a little longer.

"Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves; they therefore remain bound." --James Allen

I see a lot of people around me that want to change their results, but they are not willing to change themselves, and this keeps them bound to their current results.

Take a chance on a new plan. Commit to improving yourself and that will change everything.

To Teach Is To Learn Twice

"To teach is to learn twice" - Joseph Joubert

This quote from Joseph Joubert is the best I have seen about learning and about teaching at the same time. I don't think you can really separate the two. If I want to really and truly understand and know something, teaching it is the fastest and most effective way. There is something about trying to help others understand that causes the teacher to have to know more, and not just more, but more in more depth as if you were looking at something from many different angles.

As I teach, I learn more about the subject and more about teaching and more about myself. I cannot teach and not be learning at the same time.

If you want to see how well you know something, try teaching it. Go ahead. You may very well find that you don't know it nearly as well as you thought, yet in trying to teach it, you have automatically risen to a new level of understanding. Great. Now, teach it some more. You will find after a short time that you now have a far greater knowledge and understanding of the subject and that you know it from a number of different perspectives. You will also find it to be the best learning experience.

You May Have To Look, But Find Some Good News

I made a call yesterday to one of our clients, Jim Fisk, who owns Fisk Cyclery in Dixon, CA. I was just following up on a website we did for their business district and asked him how business has been for him. Essentially, here's what he said:

He said business has been great! He said that last year business was up substantially and that this year it is up substantially from that. He said that he can tell things are loosening up because last year, even though business was very good, the parents were coming in buying and not so much the kids, but this year, the kids are coming in with money to spend. He says that is a great sign to him. He also said that it isn't just repairs or parts, but he is selling more bikes and not the cheap kind, but good bikes that cost $500 and up.

I very much enjoyed this conversation, because there has been so much of the "down economy blues" spoken aloud, that I was overjoyed with his enthusiasm and his business is up message. I told him that I wanted to write about this and he said that was fine.

You can call Jim Fisk yourself at 707-678-4330. Visit his website at www.fiskcyclery.com/ If not Jim, find someone to talk to who is doing well and let a bit of it rub off on you. It will do you good don't ya know.

Take A Shower and Brush Your Teeth

My wife gave me a parable tonight and I thought I would share it with you. She said (my paraphrase, of course):

If you're sick, that is not a good enough reason to not take a shower and brush your teeth. Put a number of days together without a shower and clean teeth and you are likely to go downhill in a hurry. When you're not feeling well and you take a shower and brush your teeth, just by doing this you will feel better and your day will feel better and everyone around you will feel better. So, when you're not feeling well, take a shower and brush your teeth!

It probably has a lot of different applications. I will let you decide how to apply this tidbit of wisdom.