Marketing Archives - Principle Centered Marketing

We are created by God to be RELATIONAL – to have and enjoy relationships.

We long for relationships with others.

We all understand what a financial bank account is. We make monetary deposits into it to build up a reserve from which we can make withdrawals when needed.

An Emotional Bank Account (EBA) is a metaphor that describes the amount of trust we have built up in a relationship. It’s the safety net of trust we’ve built up with another human being.

When I make deposits into the Emotional Bank Account I have with you, I build up that reserve for the time I may need to make a withdrawal. The level of trust between us becomes higher and I can call on that trust if I need to.

My communication may not be clear but you’ll understand what I mean anyway.

When trust is high, communication is easy, immediate and effective.

Here are Emotional Bank Account (EBA) deposits that will go a long way to your being trusted, respected and an influencer. Someone others want to follow.

Be Authentic – Be honest about current reality as it relates to what motivates, demotivates, drives you, and your Guiding Principles. No one will follow a hypocrite.
Be Open & Honest – Honesty is a Biblical mandate. Be trustworthy, live in integrity and display high moral character. Don’t be afraid to tell some of the bad along with the good.
Be Compassionate – people care when they know you care.
Be Gentle – Be caring & Patient. “a gentle answer turns away anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath.” -Proverbs 15:1
Be Competent and Deliver Results
Be a Good Listener – listen with the intent to understand rather than simply to reply. This is probably the single most important deposit you can make.
Keep your Promises – if you say or even intimate that you are going to do something, do it. [an effective way to fulfill this deposit is to get in the habit of – Under-promise and Over-deliver (UPOD)]
Think Win-Win or No Deal – have the courage to walk away if it’s not.
Clarify Expectations – make sure everyone fully understands, including yourself. Unclear expectations undermine communication and trust. The cause of almost all relationship difficulties is rooted in this single issue.
Be Loyal to the Absent – never talk badly about anyone behind their back.
Apologize sincerely and quickly when you make a withdrawal from another’s Emotional Bank Account
Be Proactive – Accept Responsibility – don’t blame anyone else.
Be open to Feedback – be willing to listen to criticism; Correction does not mean rejection.
Be Forgiving

All of life is about relationships.

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How to Get Your Ideal Customers to Raise Their Hand and Beg You to Sell Them More

The real key to success is not having better answers…it is rather in having better questions.

One of the most effective 80/20 strategies you can utilize is to interview your TOP clients and find out what they wish you could change about your industry, what they wish you could provide them or sell them, what they wish someone, anyone could solve for them, what would make their lives so much easier, what would help them grow and expand their business.

Then, do your very best to fulfill every wish. It isn’t that you disregard everyone else, it’s just that you create your systems and solutions based on what your 20%’ers want and don’t want.

Your other “average” clients will benefit as well due to the trickle-down effect.

If you are going to be the business in your marketplace that dominates, you have to come to the realization that you can’t be all things to all people.

First, you need to go back to your 80/20 Assessment Analysis and pay special attention only with your ideal, top clients.

If you have 1,000 customers, it is likely that as few as 10 or maybe as many as 200 qualify as your ideal, top clients.

You interview these people and you talk to them, ask them smart probing questions and you LISTEN to them.

Ask them why they do business with you?

Ask them if there are any other products or services they would like to see you offer?

Ask them what they like least about your industry in general and you in particular?

Ask them what you do well that really, really pleases them?

Ask them what they hate most about other types of businesses – like restaurants, cleaners, auto dealers, shopping in general?

Ask them about their aspirations, challenges, short and long-term goals?

Our 80/20 Assessment Analysis consists of anywhere from 12 to 15 different qualifiers. Contact me to learn more.

Never waste your time, staff or resources providing what your top, ideal customers don’t want or don’t care about.

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Do You Mind If I Show You Why Your Strategy Is Wrong?

Unless you have used the 80/20 Principle to create your strategy I am fairly confident that strategy is badly flawed.

For sure you most certainly have an incomplete and inaccurate view of where you make and lose the most money.

It is almost certain that you are wasting far too much time, effort and resources on the wrong people, products, and/or services and not enough on the right people, products and/or services.

You are focusing on the broad part of the pyramid instead of the narrow one.

To create a highly effective business strategy, you need to take a close look at the different pieces of your business that generate your profits and cash flow.

Unless you are a very small business, you make at least 80% of your profits and cash flow from 20% of your customers, 20% of your employees and 20% of your products and/or services.

The real trick is to identify which 20%.

Where are you making the most money and where are you losing the most?

In order to clearly identify which parts of your business are making very high returns, which are just getting by and which are complete catastrophes, an 80/20 Analysis has to be performed of your people and profit-centers for each of these different categories:

by product/service or product/service group
by customer or customer group
by employee or employee group
and possibly by any other category of your business that appears to be relevant that you have pertinent data for; things like competitive market segment, department, geographic area, etc.

80/20 Analysis is a task for a “smart” human. It can’t be outsourced simply to a computer.

Numbers always tell a story, but because every business is unique, the story is many times different for each business.

Just knowing the 20% that generates 80% of your results by product/services, customers and employees, gives you a tremendous advantage over your competitors because we now know what, who and where to focus all of our marketing and selling time, energies and resources.

The real low-hanging strength of 80/20 is showing you where you are losing money.

We tend to think that our business is doing the best it can and that the competitiveness of the market has reached its equilibrium and now we need to win market share by sheer force.

Nothing could be further from the truth or more destructive in thought.

By changing our thinking to 80/20 we begin to transform the way we do business at every entry-point, every segment, category and every level.

We begin to eliminate waste. Our inventory costs go down, which improves cash flow.

We need fewer employees because the employee we now have generate more and better results with far less management on our part and you can afford to reward them better thus creating a culture where people actually look at their jobs as a career.

We watch our customer loyalty increase, the frequency of purchases increases and because we are catering to the 20%, when they do purchase, the ticket sale is much higher thus the profit and cash flow increases.

80/20 is Your Guide to Developing Your Business into an Innovative Animal.

The 80/20 Principle is of enormous value in identifying the next big innovative leaps forward for your business.

80/20 is all about simplifying your life. Getting more and better results with less – less time, less effort, less customers, less inventory, etc. etc.

The 80/20 Principle suggests you turn your business upside down and concentrate all of your time, effort and resources on multiplying the small but Wildly Important Parts [WIP’s] to your strategy.

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The Exponential Effect of Combining 8020 Online and Offline Marketing

Adding 8020 online marketing and selling to your brick & mortar business has to simply be a part of any marketing and sales process.

Regardless of the business, making sales and providing real service are two of the most vital measurements of any 8020 business.

Yet, the vast majority of small business owners don’t adequately use their online presence (website, social media, Email marketing) to complement and enhance their offline marketing and sales process.

Implementing 8020 online business strategies and tactics is fun, highly leveraged and can be outrageously profitable.

In fact, adding 8020 online sales and marketing strategies, systems and tactics to your brick and mortar business is probably the easiest way to increase your cash flow fast without the aid of a mask and a gun.

Best of all, it is moral, ethical and the easiest way to ensure you never break the laws of God or man.

8020 online marketing helps and serves your prospects and customers while adding extra profits and cash to your bank account while at the same time bringing stability to your business.

Too many small business owners make the mistake of thinking they can make a fortune in their brick and mortar business selling products and services without integrating solid 8020 online marketing methods.

When you combine various elements of 8020 online and offline marketing and sales into your prospecting, sales, and follow-up process the potential to increase your profits and cash flow grows exponentially.

And that can be multiplied by increasing the amount of money each customer spends every time they purchase and increases the likelihood of them referring like-minded new prospects.

There are 3 main ways to increase sales and profits in any business:

Acquire more new customers to buy from you.
Increase the amount of money your customers spend each time they buy from you.
Get your customers to buy from you more often.

Most businesses, small and large, spend the majority of their time, effort and money focused on number 1: getting more customers.

But by implementing 8020 sales and marketing there is far more money to be made with far less time, effort and expense by focusing on numbers 2 & 3: increasing the amount of money your customers spend and getting them to buy more often.

Also, which I’ll share with you at a later time, when you really take time to build trusting relationships with the 20% that generate 80% of your sales, profits and cash flow, through education and exceptional service, you build a steady stream of high quality 8020 referrals.

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Focus on the Solution not the Problem

Breakthrough Critical Thinking focuses on the Solution not the problem.

What is Breakthrough Creative Thinking?

It focuses forward on the solution you want to create rather than backwards at the problem you want to eliminate.
It identifies the right things to do and how to do them.
Removes obstacles from your path to the simple solutions.
Requires minimal information gathering and then only on the information you need to move forward – thus reducing “analysis-paralysis”.
Provides long-term solutions

It also helps you avoid the mistakes made in the traditional problem-solving paradigm:

Working on the wrong things – ladder against the wrong wall.
Starting with the wrong assumptions which always causes coming to wrong conclusions.
Involving the wrong people.
Accepting the wrong or incomplete solutions.
Addressing the wrong timing.

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Be The Best Employer In Town: Hire Eagles

Be The Best Employer In Town: To find, hire and keep only the best there is a five step process to follow. [similar to the pattern we follow to help you find, get and keep only the best customers]

Be the kind of person/business top performers want to be associated with.
Know your Market– Know who your target audience is. What do the best people look like?
Create your Message– What is your unique story? What makes you appealing to the best people?
Choose your Media– Where do these top performers hang out? Where is the best place to reach them?
Keep them.

First: Be the kind of person that others want to follow and associate with.

Be likable
Be trustworthy
Be competent

Second: Who is your target audience? What do your best people look like right now? Where do they come from? Where do they get their information from? What is their worldview? – our decision-making, and theirs, is influenced by the way we think. What are their goals and values and how can we contribute? What are some objections to working with you? Why would someone choose NOT to work for you? [Note: this is not an exhaustive list]

Third: Once you have a good picture or profile of what your best people look like, then create the message. What makes you unique? What are the benefits, for this target audience, of working with you? What do they want to hear that is true of you?

Fourth: Once you know these things, Where do they hang out? Where do they go to get their information? You can now determine the best media to use to reach them.

To market and sell your business as the place they want to be employed, the very first thing you must do is get clear on who your ideal employee is, where they are hanging out, what their challenges are, etc…Every marketing piece must know what your ideal employees and potential employees “hot buttons” are-what’s important and/or relevant to them. Once you find who your target audience truly is then you can know what those hot buttons are.

Never forget the following marketing principle: You are better off running a weak ad to the right audience than you are running a strong ad to the wrong audience.

Fifth: Keep them.

Be more like a coach than a manager.
Provide them with opportunities to be rewarded appropriately.
Lead by principles not rules. Every rule has an exception, principles do not.
Be an effective communicator.

Cultivate and model these 9 Habits of Emotional Bank Account deposits as taught by Stephen Covey to build strong meaningful relationships and set the example of the way you want your staff to treat others:

Seek 1st to Understand…listen with the intent to understand rather than simply to respond.
Keep your Promises.
Act with Kindness & Courtesy.
Clarify Expectations (make sure everyone fully understands including yourself). Almost all conflicts are a result of “violated expectations.”
Be Loyal to the Absent (never talk badly about anyone behind their back)
Apologize when Wrong (it takes a Big person to admit when wrong)
Accept Responsibility (don’t blame anyone else)
Be Open to Feedback (be willing to listen to criticism; Correction does not mean rejection)
Take time between the Stimulus and the Response so that you can Exercise your Freedom to Choose Responsibly.

Good results come from good people. To gain more influence, identify the similarities within your target audience and work from there.

If you want to be able to attract, hire and keep Eagles, the best people, then be the best employer in town and ALWAYS BE RECRUITING – 365 days a year!

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Hire Eagles: 5 Steps to Find, Hire and Keep Only the Best People – the 20% that Generates 80% of Your Results

Hire Only Eagles – 5 Steps to Find, Hire and Keep Only the Best People – the 20% that Generates 80% of Your Results Part One:

In his book “A Little Bit At A Time”, Russell Wright showed that this concept was introduced as early as 1911 by an author named Frederick Taylor who wrote a book titled “The Principles of Scientific Management” where he state four principles.

Here they are paraphrased a bit:

Get and Keep the Right People
Make clear what needs to be done.
Make appropriate training, resources and support available.
Remove the obstacles from their path and let them do what needs to be done.

In his book “Good to Great”, autghor Jim Collins found a similar thing with all Great companies:

1st: It starts with having the right leader/leadership skills.

2nd: They then got the “right” people on the “bus” and just as importantly, they got the wrong ones off.

3rd: They had the ability to be honest about current reality.

4th: They kept it simple by adhering to the 80/20 Principle.

5th: They created a culture of discipline.

6th: They understood the concepts of the Principle of Compounding. A little bit at at time, all the time, has the greatest chance of success.

Then in the 1950’s W. Edward Demings and J.M. Juran, American consultants, were invited to Japan to help them rebuild their economy.

It must be noted that American industrialists dismissed their ideas. I’m sure Deming and Juran would have preferred to stay home and help American industry take it to the next level.

This is the Acres of Diamonds syndrome or as Jesus stated “But I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his own hometown” – Luke 4:24

For whatever reason, we tend to look outside our own backyard for answers.

I’m telling you, you have everything you need to get everything you want already available to you.

To find, hire and keep only the best there is a five step process to follow. [similar to the pattern we follow to help you find, get and keep only the best customers]

Be the best employer in town. Be the kind of person/business top performers want to be associated with.
Know your Market– Know who your target audience is. What do the best people look like?
Create your Message– What is your unique story? What makes you appealing to the best people?
Choose your Media– Where do these top performers hang out? Where is the best place to reach them?
Keep them.

In Part Two I will go into more detail as a precursor to my upcoming book of the same title.

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7 Biblical Characteristics of Principle-Centered Leaders

The Law of the Farm is the guiding principle of Principle Centered Leaders

Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 2 Corinthians 9:6

They are Constantly Learning. “Principle centered people are constantly educated by their experiences. They read, they seek training, they take classes, they listen to others. They are curious, always asking questions. They continually expand their competence, their ability to do things. They discover that the more they know, the more they don’t know; Most of this learning and growth is self-initiated.” ~Stephen Covey

They live by the Rule-of-Success: Constant Improvement. Be Better today than yesterday. They work at improving at least one dimension of their life every day. Far too many people reach a certain point in their lives where they stop learning and thus stop improving. There are many people who have 20 or 30 years in a certain profession but in terms of expertise really only have one years experience 20 or 30 times. In other words they stopped learning and improving at their profession after the 1st years experience and for the next 20 –30 years just kept repeating that same experience over and over again.

“Intelligent people are always open to new ideas. In fact they look for them. – Proverbs 18:15 NLT

“Formal education will get you a job; self-education will make you rich.” ~ Jim Rohn

They have a Servitude Heart.Every day they look at their life as a “mission” – what can I do to improve the lives of those around me. They understand that in order to get what they want in life, they have to help others get what they want.

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit but in humility, consider others better than yourself. Each of you should look after not only your own interests but also the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 2:3-5 NIV

They Radiate Positive Energy. They are generally cheerful, pleasant, and happy with their lives; their attitudes are optimistic, positive and upbeat. They look to create rather than tear-down. Their spirit is enthusiastic, hopeful and believing. Their general attitude is “there is a solution to every problem.”

“Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. – Philippians 4:8b NLT

They Believe in Others. “Principle-Centered people don’t overreact to negative behaviors, criticism or human weaknesses.”

Because Principle-centered leaders are also Biblical-centered they understand that every human was created with unique talents. Just as every part of the body has its own unique function, so does the greater body of God’s creation – humans; who each have their own unique skills and talents and when we work Interdependently together we can accomplish SO MUCH more than we can independently or divided.

“God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well.” –Romans 12:6a NLT

They Lead Balanced Lives. “They read voraciously and keep up with current affairs and events. They are active intellectually, having many interests. They read, watch and learn. And have a healthy sense of humor.”

They are self-aware, authentic and self-honest; they have a clear understanding of their strengths and weaknesses. What motivates them and demotivates them so that they can better control their environment and thus results.

They recognize that there are ABSOLUTES and condemn the bad and champion the good.

They know how to make decisions and just as importantly, they know how to live with the decisions they have made.

They are not extremists and do not back themselves into a corner by making everything – all or nothing.

They have no need to manipulate through either intimidation or self-pitying martyrdom.

“There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to harvest; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to turn away; a time to search and a time to lose; a time to keep and a time to throw away; a time to tear and a time to mend; a time to be quiet and a time to speak up; a time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace.” – Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 NIV

They are Intrinsically Motivated.Because they are intrinsically motivated their security comes from within instead of from without. Their true security comes from their initiative, resourcefulness, creativity and natural intelligence (from God their Creator).

They take no man as an IDOL – no one is “Bigger-than-Life” thus they resist become any person’s disciple. One of their fixed Principles is Flexibility. They truly lead an abundant life.

Servants, respectfully obey your earthly masters but always with an eye to obeying the real master – Christ. Don’t just do what you have to do to get by, but work heartily, as Christ’s servants doing what God wants you to do. And work with a smile on your face, always keeping in mind that no matter who happens to be giving the orders, you’re really serving God. Good work will get you good pay from the master, regardless of whether you are a slave or free. Ephesians 6: 5-8 NLT

They are Synergistic. Because they understand the Natural Laws of God (Principles) they are “change catalysts”; they improve almost every situation they encounter. They are “Diligent” – they work hard AND smart.

They have traversed the “Maturity Continuum” from the lowest level of : Dependency (lowest level of infant, children, adolescent stage)– to – Independency – to – Interdependcy (the Highest level of the truly MATURE) to be able to skip compromise and arrive right at a Synergistic Solution that is stronger and better.

Read All of Ephesians 4 to give you a real sense of Interdependcy but Ephesians 4:4 alone sums it up. “We are all parts of one body, we have the same Spirit, and we have all been called to the same glorious future.” TLB

The Law of the Farm is their guiding principle.

Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 2 Corinthians 9:6

Two great experts on this are Stephen Covey in Principle Centered Leadership and John MacArthur, “The Book on Leadership”.

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2/3 of Small Business Owners Don’t Know How to Ask the Right Questions and It’s Costing Them Money

Ask the right questions and you’ll get the right answers.

A recent survey of 2600 small business owners, conducted in January 2017 by “Small Business Trends” revealed that 62% of them believe Facebook advertising is ineffective.

First, we believe the reason for this is the same reason too many small business marketing strategies don’t work – they don’t ask the right questions.

Our Essential Elements discovery process is designed to help you discover the six elements every small business owner needs to know. The very first element is designed to determine who your ideal target audience is.

There are 6 elements to knowing who your Target Audience is.
In some cases, you’ll need to survey or have conversations with existing customers to accurately flesh out your target audience.

One, Demographic Information: Where do your clients come from specifically?

Geographic location
Income
Gender
Education
Marital status
Occupation
Religion
Age

Two, Psychographics:

Spending habits-where do they shop?
Hobbies
Values
Concerns
Desires
Lifestyles
Associations they might be affiliated with

Three, Sources of Information: Where Does Your Target Client [ideal customer] Get His or Her Information?
Who are the thought leaders they follow like authors, bloggers, magazines, websites, podcasters?
What Facebook pages are liked by your Target Audience?
What Facebook groups do your Target Audience belong to?
What are the most popular online discussion forums in your niche?
What are the most popular LinkedIn groups in your niche?

Four, Pain Point or Challenges: What is their major problem they have that you have a solution to?

Five, Objections In Their Purchase Process: What are the reasons your customer might choose NOT to buy from you or your product or service?

Six, What are their goals and values?
Second, they don’t understand the importance of testing. One of the great advantages to Facebook advertising is how easy, fast and relatively inexpensive it is to test not only the answers to the 6 elements to knowing who your Target Audience but also the message including the attention grabbing headline.

Testing budgets as small as $5 or $10 a day, focusing on different mixes, can tell you what you need to know before you begin to invest larger amounts in your campaign.

Our Essential Elements discovery process helps you discover these six things which are critical regardless of what media or technology you use.

Who is your Target Audience. Your ideal customer. The 20% that generate 80% of your revenue, cash flow and ultimately your profits.
The Lifetime Value of your customers. You know exactly how much you can spend or ethically reward someone to become your client or remain a loyal fan.
Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP). This is what sets you apart from everyone else. What makes you, your products or services unique?
Risk Free Guarantee. This is what makes it easier for your clients to say YES vs
100% Financial Capacity. This clarifies how much money you are potentially leaving on the table and gives you the insight and courage to move forward.
80/20 Principle. Also originally known as the Pareto Principle.
The vast minority of your customers, employees, products/services, efforts, time, money, resources are generating the vast majority of your results. This process helps you identify them.

The question is always the answer.

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The Pain – The Problem – The Solution

As I was writing this message – “The Pain – The Problem – The Solution”, I was reminded of just how much pain there is in our world today:

“I have no life.”

“Our month-to-month cash flow is always inconsistent.”

“I’m angry, I’m scared. I can’t afford to…..(fill in the blanks)”

“I can’t change things.”

“I’m worthless.”

“I’m too old.”

“I am so constantly overwhelmed with day-to-day problems of running my business that I can no longer take the time to be innovative or learn new things.”

The best way to eliminate the Pain in your life and find a lasting Solution, is to first understand the fundamental root Problem causing the pain.

Being honest about current reality is the critical first step.

Author John Gardner said, “Most ailing organizations have developed a functional blindness to their own defects. They are not suffering because they cannot resolve their problems, but because they cannot see their problems.”

Why can’t most business owners see their problems?

Well, for many, it’s because nothing fails faster than success.

We get comfortable and all too often we succeed in spite of ourselves.

The talents, passion and need that were there in the beginning when you started your business are no longer there or adequate for the new challenges facing you now or are right around the bend.

All too often, we don’t even know we have a problem until it’s too late. Then instead of responding in a proactive way we are forced to react in an urgent manner.

As I have previously pointed out, there are four common problems every business owner seems to have in common:

Lack of time – both personal and business.
Uncertain or inconsistent cash flow.
Not enough of the “right” customers.
Not enough of the “right” employees.

When I first became a Chrysler dealer, my wife and I were awarded a cruise on the QE II, chartered just for the top performing Chrysler dealers in America.

Lee Iacocca was also on the cruise and one night he spoke about the three things that make up any business, he said it was product, profit and people and people are the most important asset.

That is a principle of life, not just business.

People are your most valuable asset.

Having the right people, in the right positions trumps everything else.

You can have the best systems, but if you have the wrong people in those systems, those systems will eventually fail.

When asked why he wrote his book -”The 8th Habit” , Stephen Covey said “It is NOT about adding one more habit that somehow got forgotten, but rather it is about helping you to find your Voice and to help others find theirs.
It’s about helping people realize they are unique and significant in this world and finding your passion, your special talent that allows you to fill a need, and your conscience so that you can feel confident of what is the right action to take and prompts you to actually take it.”

“If you want to make minor, incremental changes and improvements, work on practices, behaviors or attitudes. If you want to make significant, quantum improvement – work on paradigms, change the way you think.” – Stephen Covey

The pain, the problem and the solution are easily discovered by asking smart questions centered on our six Essential Elements.

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