Simplify: Dig your well before you’re thirsty.

dig your well before thirstySimplify

How would you benefit by knowing, with absolute clarity, who your ideal customers and/or employees are, where they are, how you can reach them and what you need to say to them that sets you apart from your competitors.

Think about this: What would it feel like to have all of these things?
• Less unanticipated problems which will mean less headaches and less stress
• Consistently improving results which will mean consistently improving income and cash flow
• Relationships of trust with every employee, vendor, customer and client.
• Customized Simple Solutions that work for you. Every business and owner is unique.
• Personal 1-on-1 mentoring where you can rely on someone with Competence and Character to help you to ask the right questions, come up with the right solutions, to help you anticipate problems before they happen.

What would your life be like a year from now if you were achieving one of the following:
1. The same results you are now getting but with less time, effort and/or money invested on your part.
Or
2. Better results with the same amount of time, effort and/or money invested on your part.
Or
3. Better results with less time, effort and/or money invested on your part
Or…
4. You might choose to spend more in time, effort and/or money and absolutely DOMINATE your competition.

 The best way to accomplish this is to simplify your business – the principle of simplicity or 80/20.

That is not a simple thing to do nor is it easy and almost impossible to do on your own.

If it were easy, everyone would do it and it’s almost impossible to do from the inside. By that I mean it is very difficult to recognize, diagnose and prescribe solutions for yourself.

Simplification always looks obvious after it’s done…but never before.

It’s almost impossible to re-invent from the inside out, because a fish in water can’t see the water for what it is.

Most (ailing) organizations are not suffering because they cannot resolve their problems but because they cannot see their problems.” – John Gardner

Here are 3 Essential Questions you need answers to when creating a Simple Solution:

  1. Since every business, it’s culture and owner is UNIQUE  you need to ask: How do we treat every problem, person or situation as UNIQUE? Solutions, whether created from scratch or swiped from a “Best Practice” approach, have to be made to Fit the Culture and Structure of each individual organization. Solutions need to be tailored to the uniqueness of the problem, people and situation.
  2. To create the desired solution, what forward-thinking, 3rd alternative and purposeful Information do we need in order to create a future living solution?
  3. How can we think Structurally about the Solution?  In other words, how can we make sure that the solution we come up with fits into the current structure of the business – uses the same language, fits the culture, people, systems, worldview, etc…

The attitude that leads to breakthroughs in your business is: You want to become an expert in the solution rather than the in the problem.

A good business coach or consultant will help you to dig your well before you’re thirsty.    

Contact us right now before the fear of disrupting the status quo sets in.

Let us be what your competitors can’t afford on their own – your virtual marketing department.

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Let me tell you what motivates me to help you build a BIZ to sell

Build itWhether exiting or selling your business is even on your mind is not really the question. Plainly, every owner eventually transitions their business. The significant question is: Have you created a business that is attractive and valuable enough that someone else even wants to buy it much less pay you big bucks for it?

Business value doesn’t come from just selling more or increasing revenue, it comes from being able to find, hire and keep the right employees who make decisions as good or better than you would make, it’s about knowing who your ideal target customers are so you can create a marketing strategy and messaging that resonates, stands above the “noise” of the marketplace and gets heard and understood because it is clear, easy to understand, memorable and repeatable.  It’s about having systems that allow your business to run on auto-pilot whether you are there or not. And it’s about Cash-Is-King – having positive cash flow.

Here are some sobering thoughts: [source: Exit Planning Institute]

One: 70-80% of all small businesses are not saleable for the terms and/or timeline the owner wants because it won’t pass the due diligence test. One of those tests is whether the business is dependent upon a single person or a small group of people – lack of systematization. No sophisticated buyer is going to even want to purchase a business like that.

Two: 80 to 90% of an owner’s financial wealth is locked-up in their businesses.

Three: 63% of the business owners indicated they needed the income from the business to support their lifestyle.

Four: 56% of the business owners indicated they needed to harvest the value of their business to support their lifestyle post-transition.

Let me tell you what motivates me to help you build a BIZ to sell.             

I’ve owned and operated a small business for over 35 years and I’ve sold two multi-million-dollar businesses that were sold on timelines and terms I didn’t want.

In 2003 I was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and treated at Mayo for 5 years.

During these 5 years, I learned that my cancer was likely caused by my exposure to petrochemicals – a product extremely prevalent in my auto dealership.

I had two young teenage children at the time and I had to make a choice, keep my dealership and risk a reoccurrence of my cancer or sell and live to see my kids graduate and maybe even marry.

I sold it in 2008.  Not the peak economic time to sell.

Then three years ago, my brother got terminal cancer. Before he died, he asked for my help selling his office equipment business.  His dream was to sell for $5.5 million when he decided to sell at retirement.

The problem: He thought he had plenty of time to build his business to thrive without him, after all, he was still in his 50’s.

We ended up selling for a far cry from his desired amount.

Those two lessons motivated me to work with small business owners to build their business to thrive as well without them as with them.

Small to medium-sized businesses are the heart and soul of America.

When I sold my new car/truck dealership, I employed 82 people.

Like you, I never missed a payroll.

And like you, we provided access to great health care for them and their spouse and kids.

Our employees purchased homes, autos, recreational vehicles, groceries, took vacations, and their kids got to go to better schools all because we sold products and services that people wanted and needed.

When businesses like yours succeed (and eventually successfully transition to a new owner) the world becomes a much better place. Not just because of the money, we put back into circulation, but when we run a principle-centered BIZ, we affect the community as a whole.

Together, it’s businesses like yours that build the middle class.

It’s because of what you do, children get to go home tonight to a warm meal and sleep in a warm bed.  And tomorrow they get to wake up and go to a good school.

We don’t want to help you grow your business just because of you alone. We know what you do with your money. We know the legacy you are leaving matters to a whole community by creating jobs that matter and communities of co-workers that are truly meaningful.

Here’s to the success of your marketing and selling messaging, the systems that help your business run on auto-pilot and the empowered workforce that all allows you to focus on the real success of your business and the legacy you leave.

God Bless you and all you do.

If the owner IS the business, it’s worth nothing.
If the owner runs the business, it may be worth something.
If the business is totally independent of the owner and he or she can take 4-week vacations whenever they want, THEN it is worth money
.

P.S. After the execution of our program, you may not want to sell because it will be running so smoothly on virtual auto-pilot generating more cash then you thought possible.

P.S.S. Even if you’re not planning on selling, building your company to Sell It is building a company that is built to own.

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What It Takes to Say “No”

Most people do too much. Their lives are cluttered with unnecessary stuff and a confusing, burdensome array of choices. They waste themselves responding to the urgent while ignoring the important. They’re busy, but not all that effective. They’re burning calories they don’t need to.

In contrast, highly effective people think differently and are focused and calm. They concentrate on only the most important, and on the one thing that really matters.

So, instead of throwing more effort at whatever situation or problem you face, consider first, what you can discontinue.

The key to getting more with less is more about stopping than starting, it’s about knowing what to quit doing, what to say no to.

Create white space in your schedule, in your mind and in your life as a whole. It’s about emptying your days of those things that don’t justify your time and effort because the return on investment is so poor.

Imagine taking some of this new white space you’ve created by uncluttering your life and investing it in those things that really matter and count the most, work best, and bring the greatest rewards getting you 5,10, 15, 20 or even 100 times improvements.

The first thing you need to do is create white space in your life. Eliminate the deadwood.

The only place to get the time to create this white space, in the beginning, is from your Quadrant III and Quadrant IV activities.

To work in Quadrant II requires you to be proactive because Quadrants I and III work on you. To say “yes” to the important Quadrant II priorities, you have to learn to say “no” to other things.

Most people would say that the reason they are not as effective as they should or could be is a lack of discipline. On the surface, this sounds reasonable but if you give it deeper thought, the real problem is that their priorities have not become deeply ingrained in their hearts and minds. They haven’t internalized Habit 2 – Begin With The End In Mind.

A lot of people recognize the value of Quadrant II activities, whether they identify them as such or not. And they attempt to give priority to those activities and integrate them into their daily lives through self-discipline but without a principle center and personal mission statement and guiding principles, they don’t have the necessary foundation to sustain their efforts.

A Quadrant II focus is a worldview that grows out of being principle-centered.

It’s almost impossible to say “No” to the unnecessary urgency of the whirlwind, the popularity of the Quadrant III or the pleasure of escape of the Quadrant IV if you don’t have a bigger “yes” burning inside.

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Primary Greatness

Harvard Business professor Amy Cuddy spent 15 years studying how business leaders can make a good first impression. She distilled her research into two questions people subconsciously ask when meeting someone.

Can I trust this person?

Can I respect this person? 

Primary Greatness is who you really are – your character, your integrity, your deepest motives and desires. It is achieved by those who have a mission and a purpose to serve that is higher than themselves, a lasting contribution to make.

Primary Greatness is principle-centered; God-centered; based on a Biblical worldview and is where your private victories come from.

Private Victories is a result of exercising your primary greatness and always precedes Public Victories.  Work on character first. Personality will naturally follow.

Shallow, immature people work on personality. They are constantly “selling” themselves to others.  To focus on personality before character is to grow the leaves without the roots.

Secondary Greatness is what the world acknowledges – popularity, title, position, fame, fortune, honors, possessions.

Three ‘C’s of Primary Greatness:

Competence: Demonstrates authority. Can I respect this person?

Character: Demonstrates integrity. Can I trust this person?

Communication: Demonstrates clarity of competence and character so people listen and want to follow your advice.  You can have character strength but lack effective communication skills – and that will effectively negate competence & character.

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How to Develop Good Judgment

Good judgment never comes from book smarts but rather from street smarts. The school of hard knocks. There is a huge disconnect from what our schools and universities teach and what the real-world demands.

People with high IQs can and often do make some really stupid decisions.

What is it, then, that smart people do right? What qualities do they have that set them apart from the rest?

Mostly, they make better decisions, especially when it really matters.

“In life you only need to make a few good decisions, so long as you don’t make too many bad ones.” – Warren Buffett

Here are three effective strategies you can adopt in order to improve your judgment:

Be Honest about Current Reality: Although as created beings, one of the ways we are created similar to God is the attribute of rationality, we are also created with emotions, and almost always poor judgment is a result of being driven by our emotions without any regard to our rational side.

The very first thing we need is be honest about our own assumptions, prejudices and biases if we are going to be able to overcome them.

As created beings, we are created in the image of God with four common characteristics.  We are:

  • Rational – we have the ability to think and reason.
  • Volitional – we have the freedom to choose.
  • Emotional – we feel.
  • Relational – we long for relationship.

Be Proactive: People with great judgment are proactive in that they assume responsibility for their decisions and thus can live with their mistake. They are not self-deceived and do not seek to deceive others. People with good judgment are not afraid to make a decision because they have the integrity to be able to live with the decisions they make.

Learn from your Experiences: Once you are aware of your own assumptions, prejudices, and biases and accept responsibility for your decisions it then comes down to learning from those decisions, whether right or wrong.

 “Life is a series of experiences, each one of which makes us bigger, even though sometimes it is hard to realize this. For the world was built to develop character, and we must learn that the setbacks and grieves which we endure help us in our marching onward.” – Henry Ford

The best decision-makers in the world succeed because they have the ability to capitalize from their mistakes, keep refining their judgment, and set their emotions in the rightful place. It’s this self-awareness and self-coachability enables them to become known for having world-class judgment. Every decision they make is another opportunity to learn and get better.

Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the Lord are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them. – Hosea 14:9 ESV

 

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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

  1. 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

  1. 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

  1. 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

  1. 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

  1. 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

  1. 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

  1. 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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Quantum Results come from Paradigm Shifts

Paradigm comes from the Greek. In a general sense it means the way we “see” the world – not in a visual sense but in terms of understanding, perceiving or interpreting.

A simple way to understand paradigms is to see them as maps – mental maps. Our paradigms are the source of our attitudes and behaviors.

A paradigm shift is actually a break from traditional thinking.  All major breakthroughs almost always occur due to a paradigm shift.

Ptolemy convinced everyone that the earth was the center of our universe; then Copernicus came along and “broke the traditional way of thinking” by showing that actually the earth revolved around the sun instead.  Suddenly the map was different and everything took on a different interpretation.

As soon as germ theory was developed, a lot of needless deaths were averted. Up until that paradigm shift we had more men dying from small wounds and diseases than were dying on the battle field.

The United States is another example of the fruits of a paradigm shift. Up until our Founding Fathers created us as a republic, the traditional form of government was a monarchy. The 200 years after creating our Constitution saw the unleashing of the greatest nation the earth has ever witnessed.

“If you want to make minor, incremental changes and improvements, work on practices, behavior or attitudes.  But if you want to make significant, quantum improvement, work on paradigms.”    – Stephen Covey

If you start with a wrong assumption you will come to a wrong conclusion.

People are motivated by two things:
Pain – Fear of Loss or the Valley of Despair
Gain – Deep, Deep Desire

Learn more

Sell Anything Anywhere Anytime
All breakthrough, quantum improvements come about only after a major paradigm shift.

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Why Businesses Fail

Reason One why businesses fail or at best remain average:

They don’t fully understand their 100% Financial Capacity so they don’t fully realize how much they are actually “leaving on the table” as additional profit to invest in growth.

Let’s look at a simple example of a Restaurant: If you have 30 tables and average 1 hour to turn the table and you are open 10 hours per day, 6 days a week and average ticket is $25 and average table is 2 people.

30 tables x 10 hours x $50 (2x $25) = $15,000 in sales per day would be 100% Capacity….$90,000 per week.

If you are currently averaging $23,000 per week you are 25% of Capacity.

Now I’m not saying it is going to be easy to get to $90,000 in revenue per week, but at least now the owner fully realizes what his full potential is at this very moment.

When I conducted this exercise with my Service Director of my auto dealership, it suddenly took off his blinders as to the full potential of our fixed operations and suddenly there was innovation born of confidence.

It turned out there were a lot of what I call “low-hanging” fruit solutions to dramatically improve our back-end.

Most of us, unless we receive some sort of external stimulation, just see the world based on past experiences and it taints our possibility thinking.

We get stuck in a certain paradigm and unless we are nudged out by some external force, we accept things the way they have always been.

Here is a story to illustrate.

“At a recent family gathering my wife was helping her mom make dinner. As they were about to put the beef roast into the pan, grandma cut the ends off. My wife asked her why she always cut the ends off; was it to somehow let the juices flow more freely? Her mom said no, I’ve always just done it that way, because my mom always did it that way.
As it happened great-grandma was in the living room, so my wife and her mother went and asked her why she always cut the end of the roast off.
‘I cut the ends off because my pot was too small to hold a full roast!”

This is just one of the advantages to having a consultant, coach or adviser on your team.

We’ll take you to a different level of thinking.

Stephen Covey, author of The 7 habits of Highly Effective People said:

If you want to make minor, incremental changes and improvements, work on practices, behavior or attitudes.  But if you want to make significant, quantum improvement, work on paradigms.   

Learn more at my video: 100% Financial Capacity

 

Second Reason: They don’t have a clear understanding of who their Ideal Target Audience is and/or what they want.

I’m sure you are somewhat familiar with the 80/20 Principle.

This principle states that 20% of your customers are generating 80% of your revenue.

These are your champions. And these are the people you want to reward and retain, get referrals from and just as importantly, duplicate.

You can actually take this even a step further and identify the 20% of the 20% (4%) that is generating 64% of your revenue.

It is uncanny how accurate this is.

Remember, the single easiest and cost-effective way to double your business is to have each client bring you another client…preferably just like them (assuming they are a 20% ‘er)

To market and sell your business, product or service properly, the very first thing you must do is get clear on WHO your ideal customer is, where they are hanging out, what their challenges are, etc…Every marketing piece must know what your clients and potential clients “hot buttons” are, where they get their information and what’s important or relevant to them.

Customers only care what’s important to them, not what’s important to you.

Cardinal Rule: Always remember that the customer is thinking What’s In It For Me? (WIIFM)

Once you find who the target truly is then you can know how to create your most intriguing message.

The more you know about this Ideal Target Audience the easier it is to duplicate them.  We have found Facebook’s marketing tool to be one of the most effective ways to accomplish this.

There are 5 major components to help identify  your Ideal Target Audience.

In some cases, you’ll need to survey or have conversations with existing customers to accurately flesh out your target audience.

  1. What are their Goals and Values
  2. Where Does Your Target Client Get His or Her information?
  3. Demographic Information
  4. Challenges and Pain Points
  5. Psychographic information

All we need is an email or phone number of your Ideal customers and with Facebook marketing we can find potential new customers who have similar traits. (think birds of a feather, flock together)

 

That brings us to the third ReasonNot knowing the Lifetime Value of your Customer.

Just like knowing what your 100% Financial Capacity is, knowing what the average Lifetime Value of each customer gives you the advantage over your competition of knowing  exactly how much you can spend or ethically bribe someone to be your client.

And by incorporating our 80/20 Analysis we can help you identify the value of each level of your customers which will allow you to reward each level according to their value to your business.

You won’t believe what an eye-opening experience it is to see in black and white, the difference in values.

I had lunch a few weeks back with the president of a local bank. They inadvertently discovered that approximately 600 of their 12,000 customers were earning them enough to break-even.

Interestingly, this 600 accounted for around 5% of their total clients.

They created 4 categories or quadrants of clients based on their value.

Another interesting thing they found was that in the 4th quadrant, or about 80% of their customers, they were actually losing money on them.

This knowledge allowed them to create different levels of service for each quadrant.

They have pulled out all the stops to learn everything they can about these 600, in terms of the 5 major components to help identify  your Ideal Target Audience.

And they stay in constant and consistent communication with things these 600 individually value.

He told me that within 120 days, they almost doubled the business from these 600.

I then opened his eyes to how we can now help him “duplicate” these 600 and take his business to a whole ‘nother level.

Here’s another thing, don’t think of reward as only free stuff, but what extra services can you invest in to reward your clients.

Let me give you an example…
Let’s say that your average client brings an average profit of $75 on the 1st sale. He or she repurchases three more times a year, with an average order amount of $300 and on each $300 reorder you make $150 gross profit.
With the average life of a customer’s patronage being 2 years, every new client is worth $975.
(Note: You need to determine how many years your average customer stays with you; it may be 10 years)

Theoretically you could spend $975 to bring in new clients and still break even.

If you KNOW you can afford to spend up to $975 in acquiring a new customer then you can create advertising, special offers and deals with that key number in mind…

or, here is an example as an auto dealer:

Let’s say that you make a gross profit of $1400 on the sale of a used car.
This customer then typically spends another $100 in that first year of ownership on normal maintenance of which $70 is gross profit.

The first year Value of your average customer then is $1470.

However, let’s also say that your average customer stays with you 3 years and spends an average of $400 a year on service work at $210 gross profit for each visit.

Now you have a Lifetime Value (LTV) of $1470 first year + $210 GP x 3 years = $630, for a total LTV of $2100.

This does not include the number of people he refers to you over that 3 year period that you really didn’t have to spend any money chasing and convincing to buy from you and they have the same $2100 value. 

Now, think of what you might learn if we were to go thru an 80/20 Analysis on these customers and help you discover who the 4% are that are generating 64% of your revenue.

Do you begin to see the why it really is not that hard to DOMINATE your market?

Your competitors who don’t know these Essential Elements will either lose their nerve or lose serious money trying to compete with you because the key metrics for every business are different.

 

The fourth element that most business owners fail at is not knowing your Unique Message.

Every business and business owner is unique and has a unique story to tell.

It is thinking about and articulating, in every advertising, marketing and sales presentation a consistent message of what makes you and/or what you sell UNIQUE and it’s commonly called your USP.
Learn more here:  USP! What is Your Unique Selling proposition? 

The more clearly you communicate what makes you the better choice (benefits, advantages, guarantee, etc) the more often people will choose you over your competition and see you as more valuable.

You can easily tell people why they should choose you in your marketing and have them come in presold.

All your marketing should be built around explaining and reinforcing your USP to your prospects and current customers.

Here is a great example: An Educated Customer is the Best Customer. The Schlitz Brewery story 

 

Fifth, is failing to Make it Easy for your customers or clients to do business with you.

Having a Risk Free Guarantee gives you a clear and compelling advantage over your competition.

A Risk Free Guarantee makes it Easier for your clients to say YES than NO.

Look at every aspect of your business from the products or services you provide to your clients and even your employees and make a list of all the obstacles to your clients or employees that could prevent any of them from purchasing from you, dealing with you or choosing you over your competition.

We have a whole series of questions that lead you thru discovering and creating your Risk Free Guarantee.

Learn more here: Always Make It Easy To Do Business With You

 

Finally, the sixth element, is the failure to realize It’s all about relationships.

Principles, Consistency and Innovation are usually lacking.

Two huge mistakes almost all businesses do that are essential to creating trusting relationships because without these two low-hanging fruit activities, you can’t know enough about who your customers or clients are to build meaningful long-term relationships.

  1. Failure to capture contact information of everyone, and I mean everyone, that visits your web site or your brick & mortar part of your business.
    (You need: name, address, phone# and/or email)
  2. Failure to create a consistent Marketing strategy and system for follow-up.

Building trusting relationships takes constant and consistent communication with information of value to each particular customer.

This is a lot easier than you may think, especially once we’ve helped you create SIMPLE, SIMPLE systems and processes for each of the 6 Essential Elements that are unique to our Principle Centered Marketing, Selling and Business Practices advisory and consulting business.

Not having a trusted adviser or coach on your team certainly isn’t the death knell of your business. But, not having someone on your team who can constantly challenge you and hold you accountable is definitely going to hold you back from ever DOMINATING your market within your industry.

 

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Crap…I’m Paralyzed!

In my 30+ years of leading, managing and training people, I have helped hundreds create a personal “Vision Map” for their own Desired End Results.

The biggest stumbling block is always their being PARALYZED with fear of the unknown or unknowable.

One…they either can’t visualize an end result they think they can achieve.
(This is where I have to convince them that they want what they want  and
for the time-being just forget about whether they think it’s possible or not.)

OR

Two…they can visualize what they want BUT can’t see themselves going
from where they are to where they want to be.
The GAP is just too wide….so they get PARALYZED  and do nothing.

 

Think: The Six Days of Creation
(ideas paraphrased from “Principle Centered Leadership” by Stephen Covey)

“A little bit at a time all the time has the greatest possibility of success.”

“Persist without exception.”

Aesop’s fable: “The Tortoise and the Hare.”

K.I.S.S.  – Keep It Simple Stupid

These are all maxims that demonstrate the Principle of The Law of the Farm
(sequential development process)
that is the key to success.

As recorded in Genesis, God created the earth in six days.
Each day was important and each in its own time:
First day:  light
Second day: sky and water
Third day: land and seas
Fourth day: sun, moon and stars
Fifth day: fish and birds
Sixth day: animals and man

  • As children, we learn to turn over then sit up, then crawl, then walk
    and then run. Each step is important and critical. No step can be skipped.
  • In school we study basic math before algebra, algebra before calculus.
    We simply cannot do calculus until we understand algebra.
  • In construction we build a strong foundation before doing any framing
    and finishing work.

The notion here is that there is a natural sequence to succeeding.

Progress in any endeavor means you have to accept that you may be at Day 2 in knowledge or experience and it would be foolish to try expect Day 6 results.

To conquer this “paralysis” that prevents most people from even starting much less “finishing” –  think about and understand these six “implications” of this “six-day” principle.

Growth is a natural process – You reap what you sow; algebra before calculus; crawling before walking.

Comparisons are Dangerous – compare yourself only to yourself.
The Principle of Constant Improvement is: Be better today than yesterday
and be better tomorrow that today.

Remember “there is no wrong way; there is Good – there is Better – and then there is Best.”

We are all at different “days” in our creation process – I may be at day
one in one area of my personal growth development and someone else may
be at day 5 in that area; whereas, I may be at day six in one area and that
same person is only at day one.

Your day four may be my day two.                     .

There is no short cut – If I am at day two and desire to move to day six
I must go thru the sequence of day three, four and five in order.
This where being HONEST is critical.

If you are not honest and authentic you will lose – PERIOD.

To improve we must start from where we are – By doing “one more push-up” than I did the day before, I can more easily get to 30 in a month’s time.
Just start from where you’re at and keep moving forward and improving as you go.

Be a Student of your business.

Be honest about Current Reality – we need to understand our strengths and
weaknesses and be honest about them. Know what motivates us and what
de-motivates us. Almost everyone I have ever worked with in this process
just simply did not know where to start so they developed paralysis.

The key to not being paralyzed is always begin where you are, at your day one.

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Principles of Creating Your Path of Least Resistance

Creating the life you want involves understanding the Principles of Creating.

Once you understand Principles, there are “101” different tactics you can take.

Just remember this MAIN Principle: “Never Break the Laws of God or man.”

Energy moves where it is easiest to go – the Path of Least Resistance.

You are exactly where you are right now by following that Path of Least Resistance.

Just after I purchased my dealership, I hired two coach/mentors.  One was Jay Abraham to help me develop my marketing skills and the other was Robert Fritz.

Robert Fritz had written a book called “The Path of Least Resistance” and created a system called Structural Thinking.

From this thinking I created 4 Principles of Creating:

  • Begin with the End in Mind
  • Honestly evaluate Current Reality
  • Take Action
  • Evaluate your progress & Adjust Actions and/or Clarify the End in Mind.

 

Robert Fritz taught me Three Important Insights:
1. You go thru life taking the path of least resistance.
We all do – all humans and all of nature.

You may try from time to time to change the direction of your life – your eating habits, the way you relate to others, your attitudes, etc. You may even succeed for a while, but eventually, you probably find yourself right back at the old habits and behaviors.

This is because your life – all of life for that matter – is determined by God’s  Laws of Nature to take the path of least resistance.

2.The underlying structure of your life determines the path of least resistance. 97% of us are following old entrenched patterns.

3. You can change the fundamental underlying structures of your life.
Just as engineers can change the path of a river by changing the structure of the riverbanks so that the river flows where they want it to go, you can change your basic structure of your life (your business, relationships, etc) so that you can create the life you want.

How to Create the Results you want

Step 1Begin With The End in Mind.  Be very clear about WHAT you want.  What does the Desired End Result look like? Ask why five times until you’re real clear and will recognize it when you see it.

Sometimes the idea is general and sometimes it’s specific.

Sometimes it’s like knowing you have to move in the direction of the mountain range you see 100 miles away and sometimes, you see the exact spot on the mountain where you want to End up.

Right now, you can only see the mountain range; the peaks of the mountains in this range are covered in clouds and fog.

But, you know where the mountain peak (GOAL) that you want is in that mountain range so you start moving toward it. As you get closer, you can see more detail; you can see the mountain you want so you move toward the base.

With each step, you can see more and more clearly. You adjust your course accordingly and start climbing the mountain and again as you climb higher, you see more details and eventually you come out of the fog and cloud cover and can clearly see the peak (GOAL).

The most powerful question you can ask yourself is WHAT DO I WANT?

It’s a question about results. What is the result or results I want?

If you focus on the “how” question before the “what” question all you can ever hope to create is a variation of what you already have.

Step 2Honestly Evaluate Current Reality. Be very honest about Current Reality or the Actual State of things as they really are.
Honesty and Objectivity are critical. Good, bad, or indifferent, you need to develop the skill of viewing reality objectively.
It is critical you know what is going on with accuracy and clarity.

  • SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)
  • Paradigm Analysis: What is your worldview that affects the way you see/perceive things?  REMEMBER: If you start with the wrong assumptions, you’ll come to the wrong conclusions.
  • Circle of Influence analysis. Who do you surround yourself with that influences the way you think?  Remember this axiom?  Garbage in/Garbage Out.  Surround yourself only with people who really support you and your cause; and eliminate from your Circle of Influence those who do not.

Essentially you are asking yourself what Strengths do I have personally or in my life right now that will help me attain this goal?

What weaknesses might I have to be aware of or overcome?

What opportunities and what threats are there that might help me or prevent me from achieving this goal?

This is where you ask yourself Why? Why am I in the position I’m in? What have I done in the past that has stopped me from attaining goals.

What, in my environment or cast of friends has prevented me from attaining what I want?

What do I have to learn? Or unlearn? What associations do I have to stop?or start?

Who is accomplishing what I want to accomplish and how might I model them?    This is not an exhaustive list of questions but a starter.

Step 3.  Take Action. Create ACTIONS to achieve Desired End Result.   Creating is about innovation, invention, and learning; as opposed to following convention. Some actions will help move you to WHAT you want, but some won’t, in fact maybe most won’t….and that’s ok.

  • Discipline yourself to Put 1st Things 1st
  • Test & Evaluate are keys: Test small; test often: sometimes the action works and sometimes it doesn’t.  Failure is ok BUT learn to Fail Fast.
  • Learn to ask Smart Questions:
    • What’s working?
    • What’s not?
    • What can I do better?
    • What’s the Next Action required?

 A good question to ask after you write out an intermediate DER/Goal or action step is “What is the next step required? “

EXAMPLE: One of your actions might be to take a class at your local technical college.

By asking yourself “What is the next step required?”  you might answer “Call the school.”  Again “What is the next step required?”

Answer:  look up the phone number.

I have found this simple question to be tremendously beneficial.

It forces me to think “one step at a time”

You know the old saying “What is the best way to eat an elephant?”

Answer: One bite at a time.

Step 4Evaluate your progress & Adjust Actions and/or Clarify the End in Mind.    Plan – Do – Check – Adjust (Adjust the direction before you adjust your DER/Goal).

Here is the life-cycle of problem solving as taught by Robert Fritz and why it doesn’t work.

The Problem
Leads to action to solve the problem

Leads to
Less intensity of the problem

Leads to
Less action to solve the problem

Leads to
The problem remaining

What usually drives the problem is the intensity of the pain felt from the problem.

Once the intensity of the pain is lessened, 97% of us have less motivation to continue to act.

I run into this version of thinking all the time when I am helping people set and achieve goals.

The hardest part is getting them to admit to what they want, regardless of whether they think it is possible or not.

If I am dealing with someone who has never set goals, and I ask them what is the Desired End Result they want 5 years from now, or one year from now or next week, inevitably the answer is based on what they think is possible.

This limits your thinking. You want what you want. Go for it. Create a plan to achieve it.

9 Specific Steps to Attaining your Desired End Result or Goal:

  1. Make a Commitment that you are going to reach your DER/GOAL.
  2. Commit to daily accountability – You can’t manage what you don’t measure. Track EVERYTHING.
    Every DER/GOAL has to be broken down into small daily actions.
    Commit to no more than 6 BOULDERS a day.
  3. Work on strengthening your strengths. We are all born with God-given talents and abilities. Some of these talents are a 2 or 3 on a 10 point scale; but every one of us has “NATURAL” talents of a 6 or 7;
    Focus your lifetime on improving at least one of these talents/strengths to where you attain a 9 or better ranking.
    It takes about 10,000 hours of practice to do that but the rewards are phenomenal.
    A Talent of a ‘9” is worth about $1,000,000 a year.
  4. Change direction before you change decisions.
  5. Get all the help you can. I have never been without a coach, mentor or advisor in all my adult life.
  6. Every day, think about your DER. Picture it; feel it; smell it. Make it as real-feeling as possible.
    Whatever you want to Create, you must see yourself as already HAVING it, or BEING it or DOING
    Always focus on what you DO WANT not on what you think is possible OR what you don’t want.
  7. NEVER start your day without a clear list of PRIORITIES. Your To Do list. No more than 6 BOULDERS every day. Put 1st Things 1st.
  8. Learn to be DIFFICULT when it counts. This means being Assertive; standing up for yourself in an honest, positive, appropriate way…Your rights, feelings, thoughts and opinions.
    How to be assertive:
    A. Think Win-Win…or No Deal. Understand that you have the right to walk away from a situation or relationship if it isn’t mutually beneficial.
    B. You must have Self-respect before there can be mutual respect
    C. Listen with the Intent to Understand, rather than simply listening with the intent to reply and Expect The Same in Return.
    D. Think ‘C’ mode: controlled, calm, centered, charming, composed, collected, and coolheaded.
  9. 80/20 Rule: Identify the actions that contribute the GREATEST value. DO THEM.  Eliminate or delegate all others.

For every minute spent in planning, you save 10 minutes in Implementing.   That’s a 1000% Return on Investment.

 The good news is that there is no rush to completing this Creating process.

There is actually tremendous benefit just in the process.

Make this a lifetime project.

I studied Qi Gong from a Master Chun Yi Lin. I once asked what the consequences were of doing a step incorrectly and he wisely said  “There is no wrong way. There is good, there is better and there is best.”

If you are ready to take your life and your business to another level, contact me. I know of no way to do this without a coach.

History is filled with examples of individuals creating results that were previously thought impossible.

Our society  puts a high premium on reasons and excuses.

Most people learn that if they have a good reason for not succeeding, they can sometimes avoid negative consequences.

Once you have learned the Principles of Creating thru Structural Thinking, you will naturally always follow the Path of Least Resistance.

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