“You know if you take off your glasses you will do better.” “What?” Mario, my good friend and I had picked up ping pong paddles in the clubhouse of the Hilton Head resort we were staying at. After missing several returns, he suggested that I take OFF my glasses, that they were hindering my perceptions. Off they came and whamo, I started to connect with every volley. Aren”t glasses supposed to help? But what if your learned basics are different than your altered world (with glasses)? The first element in creating Business Charisma is to reconsider your Mission. Oh sure,
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Archives for Leadership
Exits and Enters – What do you do when you have a 88% chance of failure
Two days left in the year. Time to look back, learn from success and set-backs and make plans for climbing that next big challenge. New Years resolutions have a 88% failure rate. So why even make them? The problem is not with the resolutions, but putting enough meat into them to make them work. “I am going to lose weight” becomes a fight against will power. If I just have enough tenacity, drive, and motivation . . .then I can white knuckle it . . . to the new me. But willpower is not enough. Especially with the speed and
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Charisma . . . Is it learned or are you born with it?
JFK, Eva Peron, Marilyn Monroe had it. That charisma that attracts others. In the case of Monroe, she seemed to be able to turn it on or off at will. There is evidence that companies too have “charisma”. Is it the difference between Sam””””s Club and Costco? Of In & Out Burger and McDonalds? So is it something that is learned or are you born with it? I personally believe you can learn it. Just like an employee of Disney, who is taught how to respond to others. There are things you (and your business) can do to get this
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If you are a hotel and providing fresh cookes . . . is that enough? In Pursuit of Hotel "Je Ne Sais Quoi" (the special something that guests are looking for)
I pulled into the Ritz Carlton only to have my car descended upon by a crack team of Bell Captains. By the time I was walking down the hall to my room I had been accosted by at least 8 trained professionals who all had the mad plot of making my customer experience “needle” pin against the “wow” part of the scale. It took me the rest of my three day stay to figure out how they provided an off the chart guest experience. I thought I would discover some secret technology that allowed them to communicate between themselves about
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How make a Stand Out Voicemail . . . Making a Dent In YOUR Universe – (for those who want more customers, increased sales, and more influence)
It has been said that 80% of all conversations now occur with one person communicating with another, with some sort of technology acting as the go-between. Voice mail! That technology monster that buffers us from those who we can help. Is there a formula for leaving voice mail? If I left you a voice mail on the value of quick drying paint, you probably are going to delete it in record time. Even if it is short and to the point. But if I leave you a message on proven methods to make your vacation twice as fun, without additional
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Beam Me Up Scotty . . . The 3 Types of Marketing and Sales
It was a hot summer day in 1969 when Neil Armstrong said those immortal words, “Hey this place looks like southern Arizona . . . now what?” To stand on a different planet (or moon) is a major “Ah-ha” for mankind. We have been there before. Columbus, Einstein, and Captain James T. Kirk. What? There are three phases to sales and marketing. Three distinct processes. Each has a different focus. All three result in revenue. But each evokes a different type of customer response. Let’s call them the 3 T’s. Transaction > Transformation > Transportation Transaction This is the world
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Being Cool is over the horizon of the average.
Facebook is not cool. Recent findings of note indicate that the social media site is loosing some of its cachet with the teen crowd. There is a real value in exclusivity. Does that $80,0000 dollar import sedan get a gas mileage that is 3 times better than the American sedan, while selling for 3 times the price? Is it’s sound system three times better? The fact is that there is real value in the unique, the niche. The $30,000 watch may only be a ten thousandth of a second more accurate than the $100 watch . . . but the
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Ice Cream and the Civil War – The Next Steps for Providing the Value that YOUR Members Want
The South attacked from the north. And the North attacked from the south. What insights from the battle of Gettysburg are there for associations? Consider some basic principles. Transactions grow up into Transformation As business matures, and competition increases, most products and services become more transactional. Specialized offerings get more competition, which forces everyone to sharpen their pricing, or get some sort of edge. Eventually products become so generic that the market evolves into a “big box store” or morphs into high value offerings. Consider the overrun of Sears by Wal-Mart (transaction) and Nordstrom (transformation). When you want a makeover
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What keeps people from Selling More
Their creative nature. . . .”Squirrel!” They get distracted Time Management (see #1) Lack of coaching (see #1 & #2) Lack of direction and clarity (see #3) Status Quo maintenance – “this is the way it has always been done” Self Esteem issues To little product knowledge To much product knowledge Lack of faith in the product Lack of a Sales Plan (see #4) Lack of Creativity and Innovation (thinking outside the box) Lack of new ideas (see #11) Lack of new prospects (see #10, 11, 12) Using old methods of selling Don’t understand the market and the new dynamics (our
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The New Rules for Branding – Getting Edgy or Getting Lost in the Noise of YOUR Marketplace
The biggest enemy to your business these days is being average. With mass customization, free information, and a tight economy, you need to drive your branding image. What are the new rules for branding? 1 – It must have a plot or a storyline. Think Disney. Chipotle has it’s brown bags with stories on them. Harley is about terrorizing small towns (see previous blog post) 2. It must be unique to stand out. Unless you have a BHAC (Big Hairy Audacious Concept) you have beige, average, pedestrian. 3. It must fill a need or create a new mind set for
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