You're Worth It!

Have you ever taken the time to just think about what you put your time into?  If so, spend some time comparing it to the things that you want - in life, in work, financially, family, etc, etc, etc.  How does the time you spend compare to the things you want?  You need to realize something very important:  You're going to get exactly what you're willing to put your time into.  So, where are you spending your time?

I want to be (for lack of better words) a famous management guru.  I also want to someday win a million dollars in a world class poker tournament.  I want my kids to be crazy smart and be more successful that I dream of even myself being.  I want my wife to think and say nice things about me when she thinks of me and talks to others (and I want her to mean it).  All of that stuff takes work (TIME).

What do you want?  Maybe you want to make more money.  Maybe you want to make A LOT more money.  Or, maybe you want to be a better cook, or a better student.  Maybe you want to be a better hunter, better coach, better mom or better dad.  You just might want to be better than the person in the office next to you.  OR - Maybe you want to be the best at something.  (Yes, I know - I've made my point.)

Personally, I think you should want to be the best at something.  I sure do.  I want to be the best at everything that I do.  Well then, figure out all the other places you're wasting your time and re-allocate that time to the things you want to be best at.  Then, work at being the very best in the world.  Don't sell yourself short either.  Believe me, you can be the best at something.

I'll get you started.  This is so easy - I promise you that you can get this done. 

Step 1:  Write Down Exactly and Specifically What You Want to be THE BEST AT.
Step 2:  Write down 5 or 10 ways you can make that happen.
Step 3:  Never, ever give up until you've accomplished your goals.
Step 4:  Give yourself a way of knowing when you've accomplished your goals. 
Step 5:  Reward yourself for getting it done.

Also, be reasonable.  Look, I want to be President of the United States, but they're not going to let that happen.  I also want to be Free Safety for the Dallas Cowboys, but I can't list all the reasons that's not going to happen.  However, I do want to make $350,000 per year.  I can make that happen, so I'm working the steps.  I do want to be on the cover of a business-related magazine.  I can make that happen too, so I'm working the steps.  I'm just putting the time in that it takes to get this done.  It's hard work, but the payoff is going to be huge.  And, I think I'm worth it.  And, so are you.

Finally, if you find yourself reading this and telling yourself reasons you can't do what you want, or reasons you can't have success in areas that I think you should, then stop it.  Start back over at the top and try again.  Don't shut yourself down.  There are plenty of people out there who will try to do that.  Don't help them.  Lots of people are going to tell you that you can't do stuff.  That's OK.  They're wrong anyways.  Don't make it true by buying into it.

For lots of people, this requires a complete paradigm shift in their lives, but you know what?  Make that shift.  Don't sell yourself short.  You're worth the success that you dream you should have and it's not too late either.  Carpe Diem - "Sieze the Day!"  Sieze it every day.

Are You Breaking Records or Nearing Disaster in Business

If your business was nearing disaster, would you even know before it's too late?  How would you be allerted to serious problems?  Would you rely on an employee to tell you?  Do you think your competitors are such good friends that they will give you a head's up?  Or, would you need to sort through piles of reports to find problems?  You need a systematic approach for identifying potential problems before they become total nightmares.

On the flip side of that, you also need a way to measure success and break records.  Although it feels good, and it certainly sounds good (at least to you), you can't just go with your gut.  Again - reports:  who has time and if you make time, will you really know what you're looking for?  Will all of the pieces make enough sense that you can do something valuable with it?

I can come up with hundreds of more questions just like the ones above, but the answer is somewhere else all together.  For those of you who were reading my blogs back in 2009, you will remember one called, "Record Breaking Business Tracking Systems".  http://chelmsmba.blogspot.com/2009/02/record-breaking-business-tracking.html  THIS IS THE ANSWER.

These are charts of graphs, often referred to as dashboards, that give you up-to-date reporting that will save your butt and make you a business hero.   With these dashboards, you will track everything that you would otherwise need a long report to figure out.  Someone will report the data and enter it into a simple Excel spreadsheet and the graphing add-in program will create your charts.

Here's the really important reason to use tracking systems.  When you see a drop in production and it lasts 3 weeks, you don't need to wait until 3 months to recognize it and solve the problem.  By then, it could be too late.  If you track new customers and you see that total new customers drops by 3 per week for the last 3 weeks, you give yourself a chance to turn it around before it gets totally out of control.

On the other hand, when something is working really well and you see the graph jump to a new high range, you get an opportunity to figure out how it happened and reinforce what works.

THESE TRACKING SYSTEMS ARE ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL TO BUSINESS SUCCESS!

You may be saying to yourself, "I get it, but I don't need graphs, besides it's just Excel.  Big deal."  You better believe it's a big deal.  It's the single biggest deal I know of to positively affect business growth.  Go back and re-read by previous blog about business tracking systems, then put some serious thought into the following question.

By how much do I want to beat my competition?

Promotions happen from growing the business and beating the competition.
Raises come from growing the business and beating the competition.
Recognition for being a great manager comes from growing the business and beating the compeition.

If you want help setting up your Record Breaking Business Tracking System, then I want to help you.  Contact me and we will work something out that makes sense for you.  I've written the manual on how to create these systems (literally).

Relationship Marketing

Everyone has heard the saying, "If it was fun, it wouldn't be called work". Why does that need to be true? The #1 job of a business is to get new customers. That's pretty fun isn't it? It can certainly take hard work too. Relationship marketing guarantees that the job of getting new customers gets to be fun. It's fun because you begin developing a network of marketing friends to work with every day. Who doesn't want to spend every day working with their friends?

The other thing about working with your friends is that friends usually want to help each other out. I know if I have an opportunity to help a friend, I'm going to do it every time. In marketing, working with friends can and should mean being able to share business referrals and contact lists among friends. If I know 5 people (friends) that could work well with my other friends, then I'm going to introduce those 5 friends to my other friends, and all of those friends would do the same thing for me. These friends get to know those friends and I get to know the friends of those friends, and then we all figure out how we can help each other because we are all friends now and we all want to help our friends while those friends are all helping us.

I know many of you reading this are saying to yourself, "but this is just networking, it's not a new idea." I agree that it's not a new idea, but you would be shocked to find out just how many people aren't thinking about it. I've had an opportunity to present this idea to some of my friends lately and most of them had not thought about it in this way before. I'm offering to do 2 important things for them: 1. I'm offering to do business with them myself. 2. I'm offering to open up my rolodex to them so they can develop business friends with people they never knew before. The key thing here is that they aren't having to do any cold-calling. Instead, they get to pick up the phone and honestly say, "Chris Helms told me I should talk to you." And, because it's a friends of mine, the answer will just about always be YES because friends like to help friends.

In exchange, I get access to the rolodexes of all of my friends, then eventually to all of their friends' rolodexes as well. It's so much easier to do business with friends than with complete strangers. So, create friend-business relationships and do business with your friends every single day. The first step is to share this idea with your friends and get them on board. Next, exchange rolodexes and get to work.

Who are your current friends that you work with? Which of those friends could help some of your other friends? Start thinking about and referring to your current business contacts as business friends. Then, build that relationship up accordingly. Go out with your friends to do some joint marketing to your list of contacts and theirs. If we all help our friends and all of our friends help us, then we will have an exponentially greater opportunity for success.

You're Better Than That!

Most of us do way too much negative self-talk. I'm not good enough. I'm bad at math. I'm a terrible public speaker. I'm not organized. I'm not qualified. And on and on and on. So, there's this quote that basically says, "whether you think you can or you can't - you're right." You'll just continue on being unable to do whatever it is that you've convinced yourself over the years that you can't do.

So, why all of this negative self-talk? Isn't it bad enough that others are going to say bad things about you? Even those things don't need to be true. They're only true if you make them true. If not, then it's just silent noise.

A consultant once asked me what one of my worst qualities was as a manager. I told him that I had huge stacks of paper in my office that gave me anxiety over worrying that something important wasn't getting done. Now pay attention to what's next because it's so simple and so obvious. He told me to get a piece of paper and write down the exact opposite of my negative self-belief. So, I did.

I don't keep huge stacks of paper in my office and I don't have anxiety because I'm doing the important things.

Just thinking about that felt so good. What a load off! Next, he told me to write down 10 ways to make that new, positive statement 100% true - and I did.

Since then, I don't keep huge stacks of paper in my office anymore. I just work the best ideas from my original 10-point list. The beauty of this very-simple idea is that it works on just about everything. I joke that the only thing I can't make it work on is being taller. That just is what it is. But it does work on most other things.

So, every time you find yourself saying something negative about yourself, remember that you're better than that. Write down the opposite and make a 10-point list that will help you make the new truth a permanent reality.

You are good enough. You are good at math. You're a great public speaker. You are organized and you are qualified. You do not keep huge stacks of paper on your desk (and neither do I). This paradigm shift will change your life. You will find amazement in all of the things you're good at when you give yourself a chance to be great.

Build Your Marketing Machine

A lot of companies don't understand that in order to excel in business, they can't just be the company that they are. They also can't simply be a company that does marketing as a part of business. For a company to excel - NO - for it to dominate in business, it must transform itself into a MARKETING MACHINE. The marketing machine exists to generate an over-abundance of new customers. Everything that it does serves the singular purpose of creating new customers. All of its working parts need new customers in order to continue moving. New customers are the very fuel that powers the machine. The marketing machine doesn't care what industry it is in. It doesn't care what kind of widget it makes or which services it provides. It only cares about doing it in a way that creates new customers and keeps them coming back for more.

Companies who want to be marketing machines must completely change the way they view themselves and the way that they do business. These companies can no longer see themselves simply as the company that they are. Instead, they must become a marketing machine that does _____________. For example, a medical office can not simply view itself as a doctor's office. Instead, it must become a marketing machine that sales medical services. Hair salons are no longer just hair salons. They must become marketing machines that sale beauty. If you look at the top companies in any industry, you will likely find a tremendous marketing machine. Nike, Adidas, Coca-Cola, Gatorade, McDonalds, NFL, NBA - just to name a few.

As you read this list of top-tier companies, you're probably thinking, "sure, but these companies spend millions marketing their products. I can't spend that kind of money." Agreed. Maybe you can't spend that kind of money. So, let's make an agreement about spending right here. You decide how much you can afford to spend on marketing your product or service. Then, think about how much you can afford NOT to spend money on marketing. Once you have spent adequate time on the money, get past it. Marketing is not ONLY about spending money. That's small thinking. MARKETING IS ABOUT EVERYTHING THAT YOU DO. That's why you're a marketing machine.

You market your company by the way you treat customers. You do it with the packaging of your product. Your pricing structure is part of your total marketing presentation. The neatness of your uniforms and the cleanliness of your business location markets the company. The way you say things markets your company. Your company name markets your company. Your colors, designs, and logos market your company. The quality of your personnel markets your company. Marketing must be built into everything that you do in your business. In fact a marketing machine never makes a move without considering the impact on the customer, especially how it will effect the inflow of new customers.

The marketing machine has certain internal rules that it never violates:

1. Everything it does has a purpose - to create a new customer.
2. Every single piece of written (marketing) material has a killer, customer-focused headline.
3. It always answers the customer's question, "What's In It For Me?" (WIIFM)
4. It never spends money on anything that is not working to generate new customers.
5. When budget cuts must be made, it NEVER cuts the marketing budget.
6. It always knows how customers heard about it and why they chose it over the competition.
7. It always does more of everything that works to generate new customers.
8. All of its working parts (employees) are a vital part of the sales team.
9. It never forgets its historical numbers and its current targets and benchmarks.
10.It unconditionally loves its customers.

Because it is a machine, the marketing machine makes everything automatic, only auto-drive happens in over-drive. Policies have a built-in customer focus. Procedures are created in a way that saves the customer time and encourages the customer to buy from you more often, and certainly instead of the supposed competition. Training is done fanatically so that customers receive a consistently excellent experience and consistently excellent products. Customer service is more important than dollars and cents. Therefore, employees are taught and encouraged that customer satisfaction is the minimum acceptable outcome - that customer enthusiasm is the pinnacle of the customer service plan. That's right - the customer service plan because in the marketing machine, everything is written up and standardized - especially the expected enthusiastic customer experience. When the marketing machine senses or is alerted to a potential dissatisfied customer, it takes immediate action to turn that customer into a source of future fuel that will enthusiastically tell others about their excellent experience.

Finally, once the marketing machine builds up a full head of steam, it becomes a locomotive that is ready to treat illnesses, give hair cuts, repair broken pipes, replace roofs, personal train clients, make hamburgers, or whatever else it does along with marketing. The marketing machine will dominate its industry because it is first and foremost a marketing machine that exists to do just that.

Is your company a marketing machine?

Are you a Time Cyclist?

One of the hidden costs of business is the cost of doing something inefficiently. You may have a process that gets the job done, and getting the job done feels good. Most people love to complete tasks, but a successfully completed task is not the ultimate measurement for good work. No, the ultimate measurement of good work is when the task is done right with the least amount of steps, people, and other resources needed to do the job. For the purposes of this article, we will refer to efficiency as just that - using the least amount of steps, people, and other resources necessary to do the job right.

So, what is a time cyclist? This is someone who is concerned with doing everything as efficiently as possible. When a task can be done with fewer steps, it just make sense that it will take less time. Just the same, when fewer people need to be involved in any process, the total process time will be reduced because one person is more efficient that two or more. Finally - fewer other resources. These could be office supplies and other materials, software programs, computers, documents, as well as a number of other resources, depending on the particular task. If a new customer can fill out one form to obtain credit instead of two or more, wouldn't it make sense that the total time of filling out a credit application would be reduced? Doesn't it also seem to take less time by using Microsoft Outlook to send email, maintain calendar items, and organize important tasks instead of using your ISP for email, a desk calendar, and a paper to-do list?

Minimizing all of these categories of efficiency reduces the total Cycle Time of all of your company's tasks. And, considering the old adage that "time is money," doesn't it make sense that you would want to reduce the time of everything that you and everyone in your company does? Of course it does! If you're able to help more customers in a shorter amount of time, you make more money. If you're able to do more work with less employees, you make more money. If you're able to get more work done with fewer materials, you make more money. That's the idea of being a time cyclist - to make more money for your company by doing things better (more efficiently).

You should evaluate all of the processes in your organization or business unit for inefficiencies. Your aim is to reduce the total number of steps needed to do each task as well as the total number of people that need to be involved with each task. Everywhere possible, you need to consolidate tasks, remove wasteful steps, and eliminate unnecessary resources. Look at each step from the customer's perspective. How will those steps effect your customers? When your customers see you getting more efficient, they will be WOW'd because they will appreciate you taking less of their time at the same time that you are earning more of their money.

When evaluating processes, write up all of the steps, with great detail, and include the name of the job title who does each step. It's very important that each step goes in order of the person doing the task. In other words, it is very inefficient to go from one person, to another, and then back to the first person, and then to a third person, and then back to the second person, and so on. The most efficient way to do any job is to not only minimize the number of people involved with the task, but the number of times each person has to handle something as well.

Imagine that you're a customer who is calling your bank to inquire about your current savings account balance (because you haven't figured out yet that you can do this online) and the person who answers the phone transfers you to someone else, and then that person transfers you to their manager who can't access their computer, so the manager transfers you back to the original person who answered the phone because he can view his computer fine. Don't you feel like a frustrated pin ball. Wouldn't it have been so much better if the first person that answered the phone would have just answered your question? Absolutely!

And this is the job of the time cyclist - to find inefficient processes and fix them so that customers are happy and the company reduces wasteful costs that lead to greater profits. But, like I said, these are often the hidden costs of business. Don't count on employees to tell you when something can be made easier - especially if that means making their position obsolete. Also, don't expect them to take the time to speak up when something isn't working right, because they are spending too much time working around the problems (insert the "Sharpen the Saw" story here. Google "sharpen the saw" and you can read this story on efficiency.).

So, become a great Time Cyclist and you will save your company a tremendous load of money. This could even be the difference between an overall profit or loss to some companies, and it certainly will set you on a path to breaking records.

Get Promoted!

If you are the top manager in your organization, then share this information with everyone that works under you. However, if you are someone who strives to move up the organizational chain, then this article is for you. You may not be know this, but your managers want you to know this information (unless they're not doing their job effectively and they are worried about you taking it). Bad managers aside, your manager wants and needs you to work at a higher level - a level that makes their job easier and one that fits well inside of the organization. To get yourself promoted, you have to stand out from the rest of your co-workers and do what most of them will not do. You have to get noticed and make yourself known for being innovative, making good decisions, and for being someone who really cares about the business. You can do this by following these directives.

Set Personal Targets for Yourself
Many companies don't set targets for each individual position in the organization. You will though, and it will pay off. Figure out what your average production / performance has been in the past - daily, weekly, and monthly. Then, set yourself a high but attainable target and post that target at your workstation. You already know about business tracking systems, so you need to set one up for yourself. Create a graph of your production and track it weekly and monthly, at least. Your co-workers may be happy to show up to work and collect a pay check, but not you. You're going to set targets, track them, and work like crazy to reach them.

Recommend New or Modified Policies and Procedures
Everyone else does their job without really going the extra mile for the company. You will get promoted if you recognize outdated or flawed policies and procedures and you recommend a better way to do them. These kinds of policies and procedures exist in EVERY organization. You just have to keep a close eye out for them and don't hesitate to make suggestions to your manager.

Dress to Impress
If your company has a strict dress code, then it's important that you always adhere to that policy. However, if your company allows you to dress in any kind of business attire, then always dress to impress. A good rule-of-thumb is to be the best dressed person you meet each day. You're not dressing to intimidate or because you think there's a fashion show in town. Instead, you dress well enough to show your managers and the company that you care about your job and you respect your managers enough to show it. As part of this, always maintain a very neat and well-groomed appearance. Dressing to impress and being neatly groomed will get you noticed.

Stay Out of the Gossip and Rumor Mill
All companies have employees who spend far too much of their time and energy with gossip and rumors. Good managers hate this and you must avoid it. You need to be known as someone who rises above such things. If a co-worker wants to talk to you about rumors or gossip, don't hesitate to tell them that you would rather not get into it. Just stay out of it.

Write up Your Post
The best way to move up in the organization is by writing up your current job so that it can easily be given to someone else. With a clearly written job description that includes all of the steps that you take to do all of your daily tasks, you can even train your replacement. This makes your manager's job easier because she won't have to spend time in training. It also shows your managers that you think about the business as a whole and not just about your business unit. They will know that whatever position you hold, it will be a high-performing and efficient position, that will be a success for the organization. Writing up positions is the job of the manager, so show your company that you are willing and able to take on that role.

Always Follow Policy
The surest way to not get promoted is to not follow policy. Having to be warned and written up will stick with you. So much of company policy is just common sense. Get to work on time, clock out for lunch breaks, don't falsify time-keeping and other records, etc, etc, etc. Policy exists so that managers can focus on the core functions of the business and not have to waste time baby sitting the staff. As a person who wants a promotion, you won't need baby sitting, but in spite of the common sense nature of policy, others surely will and you will be their boss someday.

Be a Super-Nice Person
Speaking of common sense, you need to be aware that people want to be around those who they find to be interesting, fun, and nice. Like it or not, it really does matter if people don't like you. When you're not likable, your probably also not promotable. This is quite simple. Smile a lot. Give professional compliments to others. Shake peoples' hands. Tell people when their doing a good job. Say nice things about your co-workers to their managers and say nice things about your managers to their managers. Being likable is a common sense principle of influence, so use this to your advantage and be a nice person.

If you do these things, you deserve a promotion. If you do it and you find that it's not working, it's probably because you forgot one simple thing - be sure your managers know these things about you. Show them your graph. Give them the write-up of your post. Submit a summary of policy you recommended at your next performance review. If you've done these things, you're dressing to impress, you're a super-nice person, and you clearly follow all company policies, then all that's left is to ASK. Remember: you have to ask for the things that you want, so ask for the promotion. If you don't get it right then, you will surely plant the seed in the minds of your managers and that seed will grow until you do get promoted.

Qualities of Great Leaders

Great leaders have many qualities - so many that I can't possibly list them all here. You will likely think of others. Regardless, I want you to read this list and evaluate yourself on each one. Be brutally honest with yourself and work on the areas where you are not as strong. Most importantly, build on your current strengths. These are the things that probably come naturally to you. Finally, if you find that you are the exact opposite of any of these, consider how being so detracts from your overall leadership ability.

Leaders are skillful and persuasive speakers.
Leaders have a positive attitude that is contagious.
Leaders motivate others.
Leaders have a vision of greatness.
Leaders are compassionate.
Leaders are trustworthy.
Leaders persuade rather than coerce.
Leaders empower others to make good and innovative decisions.
Leaders are ethical.
Leaders are honest.
Leaders have unyielding drive.
Leaders never show pettiness, spite or vengeance.
Leaders encourage innovative thinking.
Leaders control their temper.
Leaders are consistent.
Leaders make tough decisions.
Leaders set and reach goals.
Leaders are self-confident.
Leaders are dynamic and energetic.
Leaders frequently praise others.
Leaders plan ahead.
Leaders treat others as equals.
Leaders show respect.
Leaders never gossip.
Leaders never speak badly of others.
Leaders delegate to accomplish more.
Leaders know that good people are the key to success.
Leaders care about their staff.
Leaders identify and build on each person’s unique talents.
Leaders place strengths ahead of weaknesses.
Leaders instill confidence in others.
Leaders want to inspire others.
Leaders reject average.
Leaders listen at least as much as they talk.
Leaders give credit to others, even when it sometimes belongs to themselves.
Leaders take responsibility for problems.
Leaders focus on solutions more than problems.
Leaders solve problems before they get out-of-hand.
Leaders set consistent expectations for everyone.
Leaders use resources efficiently.
Leaders take and learn from constructive criticism.
Leaders criticize without insults or degradation.

Decision Making is Not a Popularity Contest

"When I've heard all I need to make a decision, I don't take a vote. I make a decision."
- Ronald Reagan

As a manager, when a decision you make doesn't work out quite the way you planned, who's going to be held responsible for it? You are. If you only make decisions based on others' approval, do you think those other people are going to be around if the decision turns out badly? Of course not. So, why should your decisions be a popularity contest? So often, I've seen managers who don't want to make decisions without the approval of others around them. This is because they aren't confident in their decision-making ability, they fall to the pressure of other strong-minded individuals, and/or they just don't want to take risks that are part of big decisions. Management exists because someone has to take the lead in business. So lead. Don't let your decision making be part of a popularity contest. Here's how it's done.

1. Identify the problem or the area of opportunity that a decision must be made on.

2. Talk to those who are involved in this specific area. The purpose of these discussions are to gather all of the available information from the perspective of staff - not to gain approval.

3. Review any other available data that could be helpful in making your decision.

4. Measure the potential financial impact of the decision - positive or negative.

5. Decide and put the plan into action.

The point is simple: all you need to make your decisions is relevant information. Once you have all of the available relevant information, you then must decide, act, and don't look back. All of your decisions will not be popular with everyone that you work with and they don't need to be. They just need to be good decisions based on relevant data. Don't get lost in popularity contests and don't get bogged down in the fear of big decisions. To be certain, important decisions bring with them various levels of risk. That's part of the deal, but you are in a position to lead by making these decisions. So, don't leave them up to the consensus of others who won't be around if the deal goes bad.

I want to note that I'm not suggesting that managers should ignore the good advice of others around them. Good advice is part of the information-gathering process. I'm just saying that it's up to you how you use it. Never ignore good information.

Finally - when you make smart decisions based on relevant data and the deal goes as planned, who do you think should get credit? This is a 2-way street. A leader who is able to make tough decisions, based on all of the available, relevant data, deserves all the credit - especially considering that you'll take all the blame if it goes bad. And, if you allow your decisions to be part of some group consensus, expect to be lonely when the group was wrong. Be strong and lead with good decisions.

Paint the Portrait of Pain

It is well studied that most people will go to great lengths to avoid pain. In this case, I don't necessarily mean "pain" literally. Pain could be a problem that people would want to avoid. It could be a significant loss that would result from a specific action or inaction. It could be financial and it could be social. For now, we'll use "pain" to mean anything that a person would like to avoid in order to avoid a negative consequence.

In sales, the idea of pain avoidance is a powerful tool. Currently, gold dealers are promoting the pain of a falling dollar because gold will not likely ever lose its value. Put your money in gold, they say, and not only will you get a great return, but your money will not be worthless when things get worse. Who wants their money to be worthless? Nobody. And these companies tell you to buy gold in order to avoid the pain of a worthless dollar (they may be right by the way).

Doctors know all about this principle too. When you're seeing the doctor and all you have to pay is your copay, what do you think you would say if the doctor asked you, "would you like to get blood work to rule out a life-threatening illness?" Hmm. . . let me think about it. OK - go ahead since it could save my life.

What pain do your customers suffer when they don't buy from you? What pain do they suffer when they go to your competition. In my medical office, when an injured worker goes to the competition, he finds himself back at work with an injured back. That's literal pain. Some of them go to doctors who don't understand workers comp rules, so they don't get their forms filled out correctly and they get fired from their jobs. When I tell them how we solve these problems, they wouldn't consider going to the competition and I don't blame them.

Personal trainers have a captive audience of gym members who experience various levels of pain - from being overweight and unhealthy to being almost as strong as the next guy. When they paint the picture of an ineffective workout being performed in a gym that they are paying a monthly fee to belong to, and show prospects the success of their past clients, they not only paint the portrait of pain, but they paint the portrait of solution at the same time. Powerful.

You have to figure out how your customers experience pain if you want to be able to solve their problems and promote those solutions to future prospects. Customers who want economic cars likely have the pain of a long, expensive drive to work. So, hybrid dealers sell them an inexpensive car that gets 40 or more miles to the gallon. Problem solved. Lawn care guys go door-to-door leaving business cards at the houses with the worst yards. They assume that the home-owner doesn't enjoy doing his own yard or it would look nice like the neighbors. They fix the pain by offering a service that other people want to avoid. During "tax season," firms promote the avoidance of scary IRS audits. Who wants that kind of pain? Nobody, so these companies make a ton of money by using (at least partially) fear avoidance.

To attract more customers and prevent your existing customers from going to the competition, you must identify their areas of pain, solve their problems, and promote the ways in which you solve their problems. Paint the portrait of pain and then paint the solution through advertising and promotions.

Covert Customer Loss

Smart companies budget their marketing, advertising, and sales costs, and these costs can be significant, but even greater when they don't produce the desired results. Take the following example into consideration.

Say you spend $15,000 per month in total marketing, advertising, and sales costs. For this, you expect to get 100 new customers per month. That's $150 per new customer (assume this is a great deal with a high return-on-investment). What if you only attract 80 new customers? Now your cost is almost $188 per customer. Many companies have relatively low profit margins which means when your cost per new customer increases by $38, like in this example, your margins are swallowed up in the new customer loss. Incidentally, another way to look at this is that with only 80 new customers, you lost $3,000 in advertising costs (because they were ineffective) plus all of the sales revenue that you hoped to receive from those lost 20 new customers. Assuming a 10% margin, each of the 20 lost new customers would have brought the company $165, for a total of $3,300. That's a total loss of $6,300 per month, and over $75,000 per year if this continues. Wait just a minute!

$75,000? We should probably take a deeper look into why our marketing, advertising, and sales budget was so ineffective. So, you go back and find that your ads are perfectly designed and perfectly located in the perfect geographic areas and media to make a perfect impact. Your sales team is doing a perfect job attracting new customers and your marketing plan was written perfectly to maximize the company's tools in each of the promotional areas.

Really? Then what happened? All of this perfect effort achieved a 20% loss in new customers. I'll tell you what happened. Your receptionist turned away new customers when they called because she didn't understand how valuable that call was. Your on-site staff wanted to leave early a few nights so they weren't available to help the new customers. Your phone was busy when the new customers called, so they just called the next number listed in the yellow pages. Your staff underwhelmed new customers by their lack of customer focus or by their lack of product knowledge. You had some crazy policy or procedure that unknowingly limited new customers and nobody told you about the problem. When the customer called, your phone sales staff wasn't trained well enough to close the deal.

And. . . all of this stuff happened right under your nose. It happened in the evening when you were no longer in the office. It happened during the afternoon when you were really busy working in the business. It happened because you and your management team didn't have or make time to ensure that it did not happen. This is one other very important reason for you to spend more time working ON the business than IN the business. It's another reason that you must focus your effort on training, not only your staff, but their managers as well. You need to set up "secret shopper" phone calls to find out what's being said on the phone. Send "secret shoppers" into the office / store to find out how the on-site sales team operates. You must find all of the areas of covert customer loss that kill your business right under your nose.

When you don't know that all of these things are happening (and believe me, they are happening), you spend more time on advertising. You fire your sales team, you re-work your otherwise effective marketing plan. You spend valuable time and money on all of the wrong things and then as a result, you continue to get the same poor returns.

Be aware of your company's areas of covert customer loss. Find them, and you will see the result of your otherwise excellent plan, people, and marketing materials.

Blown Away

I had a recent experience at a local tanning salon, named MAX TAN, that literally blew me away, from the perspective of customer service. It made such a huge impression on me that I feel compelled to write about it. The lesson you will learn is so simple: remember names and address customers by name. Here's the story. . .

I last visited this tanning salon 5 years ago. When I decided to go back 5 years later, I walked in and the manager, who was there 5 years ago, said, "Hi Chris". It stopped me in my tracks. I couldn't believe it. He remembered my name after 5 years. He walked around the corner from a hallway, made eye contact with me, and addressed me by name without hesitation. I have to admit that although I recognized him, I couldn't remember his name. He made a dramatic impact on me (and I teach this stuff!). Of course, I asked him, "How did you do that?" He didn't have any tricks. He said that he just remembered. Every day since then, he has addressed me by name and I always remember the 5 year thing. What an impression!

The other great thing about this company is that every person who works there addresses me by name - even some of the people who I have never met or been introduced to. One of the employees even opened the door for me when I left there today. This company truly gets CUSTOMER SERVICE. What does it cost them to use my name? Zero! Guess how many people I've told? Before writing this article - at least 10. That's the best marketing a company can ever hope to get - a customer's enthusiastic testimonial and recommendation.

As an additional note on this company's overall service, their salon is always ridiculously clean, the employees are always smiling and making eye contact, they price their services reasonably and give customers multiple options for the various levels of available tanning agreements. They are simply unbeatable.

As a business manager, or as a person who simply wants to make a great impression on others, take a lesson from MAX TAN. Address people by name. Do whatever it takes to remember names. There are books available on remembering names. Get one if that's what it takes. Take pictures (with consent) of your customers to attach to their profile in your company database. Whatever it takes, address customers by name. You will blow them away.

Don't Get Mad at the Money

As I've said before, customers who complain are a valuable opportunity for a company. Unfortunately, many times, when customers do complain, staff get upset or even angry. They take it personal because they don't realize what a great opportunity that complaint can be. It will give them an opportunity to evaluate and improve systems, products, staff, and services. You need to train your employees to accept complaints and learn from them. Even more, you need to train them to thank customers for complaining and giving them an opportunity to improve.

In my office, when a customer has a complaint that hasn't been handled to their satisfaction by another employee or supervisor, I always speak with that customer and make them happy if it is at all in my power to do so. What I usually find is that one of my employees has followed policy the way they were trained to do, but the situation warrants breaking policy to make the customer happy. Some policies are meant to be broken on a case-by-case basis. After all, policies are for staff - not for customers. I'm not talking about very important company policies like the ones that address following laws or that prevent workplace injuries. I'm just talking about "smaller" policies. For example, my doctor's office has a policy of needing to personally meet with patients who need certain forms filled out. Well, if that patient (customer) is going to be late getting back to work if she has to wait long for the doctor, maybe we can just interrupt the doctor and get the formed filled out right then. We have another policy of taking our last patient 30 minutes before we close. However, if a new patient were to come in 15 minutes before closing time, it's a good idea to help them out and get an account started so that we can see them again tomorrow. These are less important policies that are meant primarily to maintain order and give all associates a frame work for how to operate. They are not policies for customers, so customers don't need to care about them.

When a customer talks to me and I "over-rule" one of my employees, that person will sometimes be upset with me because I didn't "back them up". I just tell them that making customers happy is the top priority for all associates at all levels of the organization. I'm a brick wall when staff complain about customers. Customers = Money. So, I say, "Don't get mad at the money."

Train your staff to make customers happy and empower them to break policy on a case-by-case basis, to make customers happy. At least encourage them to talk to their supervisor about finding a solution that can make the customer happy. Complaints are a valuable opportunity for creating happy customers that refer other customers.

Don't get mad at the money. Instead, make customers happy so they will tell all of their friends about how you went above and beyond to take care of their needs.

Working ON the Business

As a top manager or business owner, the way you spend your time at work will determine the impact you have on the business - either positive or negative. You can not allow yourself to get buried in the day-to-day tasks of your organization. If you, for example, answer phones, stock shelves, purchase inventory, or do other work that could be handled by someone else, you are hurting your business because you aren't serving your primary purpose of growing the business. When you spend most of your time working in the business, it's like you're a hamster on a wheel - you're working really hard and getting no where.

As the top manager or owner, you need to spend the vast majority of your time working on the business. When you work ON the business, you are doing things that grow the company in many different ways, from creating policies and procedures, to devising strategy for getting new customers. Some tasks that you should be doing instead of the day-to-day tasks of the operation are:

1. Writing and modifying policies and procedures.
2. Writing marketing and strategic plans.
3. Creating budgets and reviewing financial statements.
4. Talking to customers to get their feedback on ways to improve the business.
5. Training others to do the day-to-day tasks of the organization.
6. Reviewing sales reports.
7. Reviewing your chart of graphs to find problems and opportunities.
8. Training people to do the training of others.
9. Delegating assignments and following up on their completion.
10. Working with suppliers to get better deals.
11. Talking to established clients and future prospects.
12. Talking to your staff to find out what problems they are having and identify areas needing improvement.
13. Creating new products for sale.
14. Building alliances with complimentary products and services.
15. Finding ways to get more efficient.

These important tasks can not be left to someone else. You are ultimately responsible for the success or failure of you operation. Jefferey Fox suggests (and I agree) that you first need to hire a office / business manager and a marketing / sales person. You will be able to delegate many key tasks to these positions which will save you the time you need to work on the business. While these people will also be charged with doing their part to work on the business, their key responsibilities will be to work in the business and ensure that your priorities are handled effectively.

Working ON the business is the only way for you to grow the business to the level that you envision in your own mind. Start delegating the day-to-day tasks of the organization and do the things needed to grow your business.

10 Tools for Getting a Pay Raise

Some companies give cost-of-living increases. Others give automatic pay increases annually. Still others give pay increases in the form of bonuses (that are often undeserved). When you want the pay raise that you really "deserve", you need to use these tools.

1. Most importantly - you must ask for the raise.

2. Calculate and present your worth / value to the organization. How much did you do in sales in the past year? How do you rank among your co-workers? What was the overall dollar value of your performance?

3. Present the market value for your position / job title in your geographic area. You can use web sites like www.salary.com to find a very rough estimate of your market value. A better way to do this would be for you to call other businesses and talk to others who do your same kind of job. When you share salary information with others in your industry, you give those other people tools that they can work with and this will probably convince them to talk to you about salary. This is a form of salary survey like salary.com uses - only on a smaller scale. (Note: your company probably has policies on discussing salary with your co-workers. Don't violate this policy and get yourself fired. That's why I suggested talking to people in other companies.)

4. Be willing to take on new responsibilities that will increase your future value to the organization.

5. Ask for more than you expect to receive. This gives your supervisor room to negotiate. When you concede some of the money that you're asking for, you supervisor gets to "win" when he/she gives you less that you ask for and you actually "win" because you get a nice pay raise. This is a proven negotiation technique that works. Even if it seems silly, do it anyway.

6. Don't expect to get your answer today but know that the longer your supervisor takes to "think about it", the less likely you are to get what you want. The better your presentation of facts and the more likable you are already, the more likely you are to get resolution sooner than later.

7. If you don't get an answer today, you must always ask, "what day can I expect you to have a decision on this matter?" It's important that you have a mutually agreed upon time line. The longer it takes, the less likely you are to get the result you deserve. So, get a firm deadline.

8. If your supervisor is required to take your request to a higher authority, ask them to take a stand for you. Here's what you have to say: "Considering my high value to the organization and the market rate that is above what I'm currently getting paid, will you recommend to your boss that I get my requested pay increase?" When you get the supervisor to commit to helping you, he/she will be very likely to make a strong effort to do so, if for nothing else, to remain consistent with their agreement to help. This is a powerful influence technique.

9. Ask for objections to find out what, if anything, would prevent you from getting your raise. When you don't know what the objections are, you can't change anyone's mind. You need to know what your supervisor is thinking if you want a good outcome.

10. Tell the supervisor that they already agree with your position. I love this one the most. When you are presenting all of the facts, you tell your supervisor, "You'll agree that I'm being paid less than market value, especially considering my excellent production." Or, you might say, "Our company values high performance, that's why you'll agree that rewarding my performance is the right thing to do." Or, "I'm sure we agree that high performance deserves high reward." The key is that anytime you can emphasize points of agreement with your presentation of facts, you will significantly influence your situation.

Finally, many people think that it's a good idea to threaten to quit if you don't get what you ask for. What a bad mistake! Never, ever, ever do this unless you are ready to walk out the door right now. Threatening to quit does not win you favor with your employer -present or future. If your value is not perceived as being high, you are probably punching your ticket with the threat of quitting. Even if you were previously perceived as being valuable, now you have left a bad taste in your employer's mouth and that's a devastating result for you. Threatening to quit is only going to work if your employer is short on other talented people in your position, but only in the short-term. As soon as someone else is hired, you could be fired. Lastly on this topic, never threaten to quit unless you already have another job lined up. You might just be asked to leave right then.

Don't make yourself jobless when you're just trying to get a raise. Instead, follow these 10 tools, stay employed, and get the raise you deserve.

Critical Missing Sales Step

Businesses that do great marketing and sales have a well written marketing plan, with a killer sales offering, a compelling message, and effective marketing and sales materials. As part of the marketing plan, one or more sales people may be charged with face-to-face marketing with key referral sources. During these sales attempts, the marketer / sales person will try to get time with key decision makers. They will hopefully present the sales materials (brochures, booklets, presentations, etc.) in a way that compels the decision maker to send them more new business / customers.

But, with the potential high cost of marketing and sales, and in spite of the effective sales materials, the effort to reach decision makers, and even with having what you think is a spectacular marketing / sales person, if the following critical sales step is missed, the entire cost and effort could result in a frustrating and damaging nothing. What is this critical missing step?

Always Ask For The New Business. Always Ask For The Sale. Always Ask For The Referral.

Yes - you must ask if you want to receive. This seems so obvious, but the number of sales attempts that end without actually asking for the business is shocking. This sometimes happens when the sales / marketing person is intimated by the decision maker, so you must hire someone for this position who is not only very skilled, but very confident (almost cocky). It also happens when the sales person is not trained on effective sales techniques or even worse - when the sales person simply doesn't believe in your product. In the first case, you need to make sure your sales team is highly trained. In the last case, you just have the wrong person in that key position. Get someone else fast.

Asking for the new business can dramatically improve your sales effectiveness. While there's a lot that plays into this step (enough to write an entire entry on the subject) you must be aware that your sales / marketing team may not be doing it, and this is hurting your business. Make this part of your marketing and sales policies. In policy, you should clearly mandate that asking for the business is part of the sales and marketing process. Asking for the business should also be found in your marketing and sales materials. Do not take it for granted that your customers will do business with you just because you have good materials and good people. Instead, always ask for them to do business with you.

Management Fire Fighters

A management fire fighter is someone who is great at fixing problems. In fact, they know exactly what to do in most problem situations. Everytime a customer complains, the management fire fighter is there to fix the problem. Everytime a staff member has a problem, the management fire fighter knows the solution. That problem can happen over and over again, and the management fire fighter will never forget the solution. The management fire fighter will handle problems as often as they occur, even if a subordinate manager is there to help. The management fire fighter doesn't need to waste any time teaching others how to solve problems, because solving problems is his job. To the management fire fighter, fixing problems feels good. It makes that manager feel very useful. And, while the management fire fighter feels really good about always being able to fix every problem over and over and over again, he is also damaging the business.

As a manager, everytime you have an opportunity to solve a problem, you should take extra time to write it up. Writing it up means identifying the problem, determining its root cause, and implementing a solution - all in writing. After its all written up, you then need to train those involved, with your new written solution, so that the problem never happens again.

Many times, organizational problems occur due to a lack of policy or inadequate existing policy. When you find this, you must recommend and implement new or revised written policy and then distribute it throughout the organization. Policy is another form of written solution to problems. In absence of solid, written policy, people will make up their own rules. While they probably think these unwritten rules make sense, they very well may not fit into the bigger picture. It is the manager's job to make sure employees do not need to create their own rules.

Similar to written policies, managers need to also implement written, step-by-step procedures for how to do each job. It doesn't matter if only one person is involved in a process or if multiple people are involved, written routing procedures will crystallize the task and make it more simple. Written routing procedures are also excellent training tools. Managers can literally teach each step of the process, one-at-a-time, to make sure each new associate is able to do their job successfully. Finally, written routing procedures can be made more efficient because when working the procedures, you can find ways to make each procedure more simple or to combine processes so that the cycle time is at its lowest. Shortened time cycles can give an organization a decided strength advantage over the competition.

The last way a management fire fighter damages the business is by not training other managers how to do the job right and how to train others to do the job right. Instead, the manager should always have the direct supervisor involved in the solution, writing up the problem, creating policy, fine-tuning routing procedures, and training staff. When you are able to delegate future problem-solving to your subordinate managers, your time will be free to make big-picture decisions and grow the business instead of hurting the business.

So, don't play the role of management fire fighter. There is absolutely no value in fixing every problem over and over again. Write it up. Implement effective policy. Create routing procedures. Shorten time cycles. Train managers. Focus on the big picture.

Management No-No's

As a manager, you must be held to a higher standard than that of those who report to you. No - you must hold yourself to a higher standard. If you don't, then how can you ever expect anything that resembles excellence from your staff? Clearly, you can't. So, let me point out some things that I have seen managers do that you should never do.

1. Don't have a personal vendetta against anyone. It is unacceptable for you to "be out to get someone". I see this mostly when managers feel insecure about their own performance or when they fear that someone under them might take their job. First of all, nobody should ever be able to "take" your job. When you chronically under-perform, you are giving your job away to someone who can do better. So, work hard, be smart, do excellent work, and treat people with dignity and respect. If you find yourself being "out to get someone," don't be surprised if it is you who is gotten.

2. Don't place blame on someone else, or as I like to say it, "throw someone under the bus". As the manager, you are ultimately responsible for everything that you are responsible for. If someone under you messes up, it was your job to have trained them not to make that mistake in the first place. If you did train them, and they continually make that mistake, then it is your job to put them in a more fitting position, or to free up their time to find a better position elsewhere. Placing blame is a sign of weakness in managers. It is unnecessary. Instead, find a solution for problems and fix bad situations.

3. Don't be messy and disorganized. I once heard someone say that if you want to know something about a manager, take a look at their desk. Stacks of paper usually mean unfinished business. Papers scattered all around the desk and office usually means forgotten and thus unfinished business. A messy work area creates a very poor image of the manager and as a manager, you want people to think highly of you, don't you?

4. Don't make excuses for poor performance. First of all, nobody's perfect. Mistakes happen. Own up to them and figure out a way to avoid them in the future. Also, instead of excuses, promote how you will make sure performance will improve. A sign of a good manager is the ability to acknowledge areas of poor performance and fix them. Don't waste anyone's time giving excuses. Just fix it and move on.

5. Don't be a sniper. I hate hearing constant negativity being thrown at people, policies, situation, etc. Managers can not constantly criticize others. They can't use meetings to "throw others under the bus". They can't constantly criticize company policy (especially to their subordinates) and they can't criticize the boss publicly. Snipers always find time for negativity. They always find time for criticism. This just makes me want to take a deeper look at them and see what problems they're causing.

Be a good manager and avoid these no-no's. If you fit into any of the above categories, there's a better than zero chance that you won't get to stay there for long. Be nice. Be positive. Be professional and organized. Be a problem-solver and not a problem-maker.

What are You Really Selling?

I think it's critically important for you to understand what you're really selling to people. If you can't identify your real product, you will never be able to effectively sell your product or service to the masses that you want to sell to. Let me give you some great examples.

1. Hair Stylists do not sell hair cuts.
2. Chiropractors do not sell adjustments.
3. Electronics stores do not sell big screen TV's.
4. Furniture stores do not sell beds.
5. TV advertisers do not sell advertising.
6. Realtors do not sell houses.
7. Athletic shoe stores do not sell shoes.
8. Lawn Care guys don't sell lawn mowing.
9. Gyms don't sell gym memberships.
10. Photographers don't sell photos.

So, what do all of these people really sell? Well, hair stylists sell people self-confidence and a strong ego. Chiropractors sell relaxation and freedom from pain. Electronics stores sell an entertainment experience you can share with your friends and family. Furniture stores sell the best night's sleep you've ever had. TV advertisers sell companies a dramatic increase in new customers. Realtors sell dreams and a better life. Athletic shoe stores sell a better jump shot. Lawn Care guys sell a beautiful yard that is the envy of the neighborhood. Gyms sell beach-ready bodies and photographers sell memories that last forever.

When you know exactly what you sell, you're able to create more effective advertisements with more powerful headlines and better sales pitches. You create a mission that everyone who works for you can get behind and believe in. Most importantly, you give your customers an emotional reason for buying from you instead of your competition.

What are you selling?

My Story of Perseverance

This is part of my story and due to its personal nature is the hardest entry I will write. Some will find it "cheesy". Others will find it self-serving. Still others might even find it pointless. But, someone will find it motivating and inspiring. I am writing this to that person.

As a kid, I was small, quiet, shy, and in my opinion, just average, but there was my grandmother. She always told me that I was big, and smart, and cute, and great at everything. She told me that I could do anything that I wanted to. I believed her. Thank God she was right.

At the age of 9, my grandmother asked me if I wanted to learn how to play the "fiddle" (not the violin - trust me there's a difference). I wanted to please her so I said yes. She paid for my lessons with the best fiddle player I have ever heard. Before the year was up, she began entering me into fiddle competitions against other kids my same age. I stood on a stage, in front of a microphone and crowds of people who were watching and hoping that their kids would win. At the end of each competition, I disappointed quite a few moms and grandmothers. My grandmother always told me I was the best and I believed her. I never placed lower than 2nd, but usually 1st (and I won $25 to $50 each time - I couldn't believe that they paid me to do that).

I continued winning for the next 3 years until I put down the fiddle to play the trombone. Thankfully, I maintained my healthy self-esteem and was the best at trombone too. I won 1st place in most of the competitions. I was the "1st chair" of my band's trombone section. I played solos in the Jazz band and solos in the marching band, including the state champion band when I was just 15. I stood on the 45 yard line of the University of Texas football stadium and played a beautiful solo - totally fearless and absolutely unaware of the possibility of failure.

After a few years of music, I decided to quit the band to focus on sports. Several years before this, I was little and slow. Instead of giving up on sports, I just kept working at it. As a 14-year old, I began to grow, got faster, and generally began to "figure it out". By my freshman year in high school, I made the varsity track team for the 400m dash and the mile relay. I wasn't slow anymore. In practice, I ran until I literally puked every single day, then I kept running. In my sophomore year, I blew out my ACL (knee ligament) and had to run with a bulky, fiberglass brace for the next 2 years after two knee surgeries. In each of those 2 years, I was voted the MVP of my varsity track team, despite running on a bad knee.

Academically, I was a straight-A honor student and an officer in the National Honor Society. I graduated high school with honors and went straight to college at the University of North Texas. It was at this stage of my life that everything temporarily fell apart. I went thru 3 different academic programs, was placed on academic probation, and at one point was 1 hour away from being placed on academic suspension. I got an A in that 1-hour basketball class and the rest was history. I started making the deans list, re-took all of the classes I failed, and finally graduated with a degree in Kinesiology (coaching, PE, personal training, etc).

I knew I was going to be a strength coach until the Summer of '98 when I spent one training camp with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a volunteer strength coach. What a great experience this was, but it helped me realize that I needed to change career paths because I wanted to be able to spend time with my family while making a fortune professionally. That just wasn't going to happen soon enough for me in the NFL.

Two years later, my boss asked me a life-changing question: "Chris, do you think you could run this place?" "Of Course," I said, and I had no idea whatsoever about how to do it, but I knew I could do anything, so I said yes. Years later, we're breaking records. Since then, I went back to school to get my MBA (Master's of Business Administration) and I am so proud and thankful that my grandmother was still alive to see it. Sadly, she later passed away and I will never stop missing her and I will NEVER forget her - enough said.

The keys to my success (and the main point of this entry that I hope you will take away and use for yourself) were the unbelievable and infinitely loving supportiveness of my grandmother, my subsequent huge belief in myself and my abilities, extraordinary hard work and perseverance, never turning down a great and life-changing opportunity, and a laser-sharp focus on my goals. You need to believe in yourself. Otherwise, how can you expect anyone else to? Always work hard and set big goals. Never turn down a great opportunity. These are the lessons from this part of my life.