Saturday, January 19, 2008

Navigating Through Business Pressure

Owing a business is an audacious task. There are numerous things that need to be completed in a day. It gets so frustrating that owners and fitness professionals question how all will get accomplished. The crux of the issue lies not in the amount of time or lack of time, but organization.

The successful entrepreneur is well organized. The more organized the professional the easier the day. The best and most successful understand how to move around the hurdles in a structured manner so that they accomplish more- with less.

I recall many years ago living in New Jersey and commuting to Manhattan, one frequently stopped to pay tolls. These necessities are required for road improvements, etc. yet they become any annoyance and add time to your commute. Tolls create agitation because you need to stop and restart, they frustrate you as you fumble for ways to weave through the longest line to ease your commute and finally, distract you as you watch other foppish commuters.

There are three tolls in your life and your business that disrupt your day they are:
1. People
2. Problems
3. Processes

Each of these factors contributes to a waste of time, energy and euphoria and manage to throw your days into pandemonium. For you to gain instant organizational momentum you must embark in three ideologies:
• You must have a healthy selfishness
• You must keep in mind moments do not return
• You must embrace the issue and make an immediate change
If you keep these in mind throughout the day your disarray will lead to order.

When we look at organizational skills we need to first understand what gets in the way of efficiency and organization and the most common cause of disorder. Procrastination detains you. When you steer away from confrontational or imperative issues you back up other issues creating a domino effect.

There are a number of major reasons for procrastination such as is a FEAR. The issue takes too long to complete, is too boring or simply is ridiculous and takes time from something else. Yet, research shows that in 98% of instances when procrastination exists, the excuses for procrastinating actually take more time then the issue itself.

Marcia Wieder states: “It’s how we spend our time here and now, that really matters. If you are fed up with the way you have come to interact with time, change it.” In other words if you find yourself not dealing with things, paperwork is piling up and calls unreturned then you must absolutely begin to change you habits. Paperwork, calls and reports do not disappear because of avoidance they grow LARGER!!!

Self-management is simply the result of developing good habits and letting them control you. or another way to look at it is don’t let bad habits control you ---you are in charge…so you make choices

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Monday, January 14, 2008

The Importance of Brand

Recently a myriad of announcements made the news that Starbucks is making changes due to increased competition from of all competitors- McDonalds. This brings to mind the importance of brand and brand equity. Branding is value, the value of your product or service and more importantly the perception clients have of your business. A brand is often worth more than the business. Think of the brands you consume; Coke Cola, FedEx, Kleenex to name a few of many. Branding positions your business and makes consumers desire your offering.

The value of a brand creates an allure to the business. Consumers simply want to conduct business because of its power. Exemplars are Kleenex for its quality, Rolls Royce for its luxury and Harvard for its education. Building a useful, titillating and valuable brand produces a cachet. Prospective customers will find you, hear about your brand and value your offerings based on perception. The value of a brand enables the business to differentiate itself from competition.

So the real question- what happened to Starbucks? Simply put, they diluted their brand. This was not a single-handed choice nor intentional but brands do get diluted. Dilution has happened to a myriad of companies such as Coke Cola, Federal Express and others, even McDonalds suffered from product dilution. In the case of Starbucks there have been several factors but two of the most prevalent concern growth and the customer. Ironically there is a certain reciprocity affecting both. Starbucks desired to increase profits with continual and incredible growth, however in doing so they forgot about their most important asset- the customer. Yet in order to appeal to clients that crave Starbucks, there is a need to grow in markets.

However, in growing Starbucks forgot about core. Similar to fitness, core is the foundation of all business. Core is necessary to remain true to strategic direction and mission. In the case of Starbucks their core is coffee and the pleasant experience of capturing the aroma, excitement and attitude of relaxing in an Italian cafe. Starbucks got lost in commercialization, competition and lust for revenue. This is not to say that greed is bad, but when an organization fails to retain core and operates with only revenue in mind, failing to maintain client allure, then business, revenues and clients will be lost.

Is it possible to regain competitiveness and allure? Certainly, for Starbucks it is a return to basics and a return to customer attention. It will take time and for now time is on their side.

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Tuesday, January 1, 2008

No Means No, or Learn to Qualify

On a recent sojourn in Cancun Mexico my family and I were requested to visit with current staff relating to timeshares at our visiting resort. The presentation was to last 90 minutes for which my wife and I were receiving FREE massages for our time. The inducement seemed valuable for my time.

Upon meeting with Milt our presentation Host, we consumed breakfast and proceeded to our presentation. Such included a walking tour of a neighboring facility featuring similar accoutrements as our present timeshare. Milt requested for us to maintain an open mind he tried to qualify our need for a new timeshare. We implored that we were only on tour and that there was no need and more importantly no money for investment. He agreed not to push, unfortunately this proved to be an outright lie.

The 90 minutes turned out to be 130. Milt returned us to an expansive room overlooking the Caribbean with over 75 vulture lurking for meat. Over 75 sales professionals sought fresh blood to close new timeshare business. Imagine homeless people looking into your dining room during Thanksgiving; we needed to tiptoe amongst the saliva.

He concluded with asking for an order, we negated. He indicated that he would check us out and return us to our hotel. He abruptly left to introduce us to his manager; this would verify our negation. However, Carlos tried to close us to. We negated him. He sent over Thomas who also tried to sell us on property. This continued for another 90 minutes and five other salesmen!

Sitting there reminded me of such high pressure tactics that continue to exist in industry. Such bogus and high pressure selling is not only bogus but untrustworthy and ridiculous. As I viewed the room of vultures and unanticipating prey, I also took note of the countless individuals and families not signing agreements. No was the predominant word of the day.

The learning lesson is simple; if you are a selling professional ensure you do not succumb to high pressure, lowly methods. Today’s environment requires honesty, sincerity and submission for client value. Milt did not approach this from value but rather the return to his wallet.

As you begin the New Year remember the following:
• Selling is about emotion; emotion makes people move.
• Qualify buyers by seeking need.
• Understand decision criteria and conduct an investment analysis.
• Do not pressure anyone, this frustrates and leads to poor customer service.
• Look to build brand recognition and gain sales by referral and testimonial.
• Have high regard for your prospective buyer.
• Create a high regard for yourself.
• Seek first to understand and then seek to be understood as retold by the famous Dr. Steven Covey.
• Look beyond the sale not merely what’s in front of you.
• Believe in your product.
• Believe in yourself.

Have a blessed New Year and make your 2008 sales year GREAT!

Drew Stevens PhD assists organizations to dramatically accelerate business growth. Drew is the author of six books including Split Second Selling and Split Second Customer Service and is a contributing author to SalesCrossing, CustomerServiceCrossing and the Abundance Network. To discover how Dr. Stevens can assist your organization contact him at 877-391-6821.

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