Critical Non-Essentials - Make difference to your Customers at Christmas

Critical Non-Essentials.  Principles

You need to know your talents – and lack of them.

You have to know your stuff if you want to succeed.   But being technically competent in the core part of your business is not the be-all-and-end-all.   There are other things even more important if you want to build a successful, profitable enterprise.  Your experience and training does not always reward you for the things that are useful in the real business world.   Sometimes it even encourages behaviour that will be detrimental to your future business.

People use the environment to make value judgments about the character and talents of the people in that environment.  For good or bad, we do use the personal appearance of others to make judgments about their character and value.  Do not expect your customers to value the same things that you and your peers value.  The way you appear to do something is often more important than what you do.

Concerning what you do:

·        Logic – what people think is powerful

·        Emotion – what people feel is far more powerful still!!

·        People don’t always value technical excellence…sometimes they just tolerate it.

Introducing the CNE’s

Customers judge your expertise in areas they do not understand by your expertise in areas which they do.

When you pay attention to detail in the very visible, non-technical part of your business, clients will tend to judge your core product or service as also having the same level of quality control.   So these little things that are quite inessential for doing your job (and which don’t impress your peers at all) nevertheless seem to play a great part in persuading customers that you and your people are good at what you do.

So CNE’s are not really non-essentials at all.   In fact they are highly critical to any business.

That said…because they seem to be so unimportant it is often hard to find the time to systemize them…it’s far easier to justify the time to develop systems so that the main areas of your business are taken care of predictably.

Super CNE’s

·        They persuade uninvolved third parties to say nice things about your business.

·        Word of mouth is a powerful, speedy and cost effective way of marketing your business.

·        People value relationships above everything else.

·        I need to understand the power of the CNE’s to effortlessly do ‘good’ in my business.

How To Create CNE’s

Step 1:   Choose an area that will convince customers that you’re good at your core business.

e.g.   an electrician who creates a system for cleaning up after himself so that the work area is absolutely spotless, i.e.

•             A detailed description of the method

•             A checklist

•             A system for reporting

•             A small clean-up box with cloths, cleaning fluids, small vacuum, rubber gloves etc

e.g.   a dentist who has immaculately clean walls, floors and carpets etc doesn’t have to worry about posting impersonal notices about how they sterilize the instruments

e.g.   a dental laboratory that presents caps with care to a dentist will have find that the dentists are far less likely to regard the quality of the cap suspiciously

e.g.   a bank that sends out a statement that’s plain, easy to read and human is far more likely to keep customers happy than one that looks like it’s from an automatic blood-scanning machine & which is full of cold, impersonal words

No matter how good you say you are. It often takes a well-designed CNE to convince people that what you say is true.

Step 2:   Make sure everyone in your work team understands the power of the CNE.

The way to  persuade people to be vigilant and tireless in their creation & maintenance of CNE’s is to educate them to the real importance of the seemingly non-essentials.

You must show your people that it’s in their best interests to impress your customers…and then that CNE’s really WOW customers.

Step 3:   Make a system to ensure that the task is always completed flawlessly.

Design simple, routine systems to do your CNE’s  the same way every time – without a lot of effort or brainpower (which would be silly).

Systems = consistency

Some effort to set them up but once perfected they’ll take little effort or thought.

The outcome is…simple systems that make a large impact on the customers and, after initial development, require relatively little effort.

e.g.   Washrooms in a supermarket that are always immaculate

•             Manual for the cleaners

•             Training for the cleaners

•             Card showing when due, cleaned

•             Notices urging customers to report unsatisfactory state

•             Periodic supervisor checks

•             Weekly check of all cards

You & your team will be rewarded each time a CNE impresses a customer…and once the team realise the importance…your standards will rise.

Six Insights Into CNE’s

Well constructed CNE’s take on a life of their own – complex tasks will happen automatically.

They work behind the scenes & s sometimes it’s hard to spot their immediate benefits.

Insight 1:   CNE’s will work with your team

Insight 2:   CNE’s will work with your suppliers. Concentrate on the little things in business & the big things will look after themselves.

Insight 3:   CNE’s are very efficient. They offer a far greater return on your investment of time & effort than most other things in your business. Work today while you have the time & energy in order to make things easier for you in the future when you don’t. Make sure that any effort you expend has an effect beyond the effort involved.

Insight 4:   CNE’s bring out the best in people.  A good CNE has a positive effect on everyone.

Insight 5:   You can create situations where other people’s CNE’s work for you.

e.g.   Paddi’s gardener goes the extra mile to keep his gardens immaculate because he’s allowed him to place a plaque advertising his business on the garden wall, i.e. it’s in his best interests to keep Paddi’s garden looking amazing.

Insight 6:   CNE’s need celebrations.

e.g. including the building cleaner in the bonus scheme & displaying her photo along with he other team members.

The Birth Of The Super CNE’s

Systemize the process of delighting your customers.

Everyone likes to spin a good ditty – so why not create one for your customers to tell about your business?

e.g.   Tea Set & Tea Ceremony vs. the X-Ray Machine.

No-one ever told a story about the excellent X-Ray machine.

Over the years the Tea Sets have returned many times the investment but the X-Ray machine has barely broken even.

e.g.  The 4 Door, V8 Cappuccino Machine.

CNE’s versus Super CNE’s

CNE’s

•             are the little household tasks that give people reasons to believe in your business, particularly the parts they don’t understand.

•             In the background somewhat.

•             Important but not exciting.

•             Stop you getting bad press.

•             Show you’re competent.

Super- CNE’s

•             Are CNE’s taken to a sensational degree so that everyone remembers and talks about them.

•             Get you good press.

•             Provide the WOW that gives people a good ditty to spin.

•             Provide the dazzle.

More About Super-CNE’s

What sets one business apart from another is often more to do with a product’s presentation than its actual quality.

Super-CNE’s get you talked about – Lead Generation.

CNE’s get you the customer - Conversion Rate.

Some CNE’s will also increase Number Of Transactions, Average ££ Sale & Margins.

Understand The Dialogue Between Customers.

A – Tells Super-CNE .

B – Yeah but is he good at his job?

A – Tells CNE stories which have convinced them that you are.

Super- CNE’s Are A PR Boon

How To Create Super-CNE’s

Step 1:   Pick something you’ll enjoy.

Step 2:   Choose something distant (but not too distant) from the core of your business.

Step 3:  Build on CNE’s that are extremely visible.

Step 4:  Pick areas of customer concerns to .

Step 5:  Take your Super-CNE’s to the extreme.

Step 6:  Make sure your Super-CNE’s appear difficult – but really aren’t.

What Would You Do If You Wern't Scared

WOW, I have just read cover to cover 'Who Moved My Cheese' and felt compelled to share my

thoughts with you all. As a cheese lover I love the analogy Dr Spencer Johnson (The Author) uses, so simple, such a great impact regarding the response to and impact of change.

In life whether at home or at work change happens, how do you react to it? Do you resist and procrastinate of it being unfair, not acceptable or that great cry of 'its not broken don't change it'. Do you embrace change and are  aware of your beliefs and fears so as to manage and control them and not let them overwhelm you. Are you a sniff or scurry type who watches for change and reacts to it.

We will all have encountered change, like it or not, to succeed you must be adaptive, all to often we over analyse change rather than reacting to the simple impacts and moving on. In the same context we need to ensure we are always aware and ready should change occur, be prepared, which can be achieved through awareness of the situation. There is no doubt you have to react quickly to change, maintain momentum by not being anchored to the old but released to establish and find the new. ultimately move with change and enjoy the challenge, indeed why not seek out new opportunities, be a change maker, move forward and grow.

I found this 10 minute cartoon on You Tube worth the whole family watching, enjoy..........

Stop Blaming Time

How many times have you heard people say "I don't have enough time to do ..." or "If only I could find the time to do ..." Or "I am too busy to do ..." Perhaps the person you heard saying these or similar things is the same person who stares back at you every morning in the bathroom mirror. Well, it is time to stop blaming time! Time is an absolute-there are 24 hours (1440 minutes, 86,400 seconds) in a day and that will never change. We cannot "manage" time. What we can manage is what we do during the next 60 minutes.

How we use time is one of the great determinants of how successful we are both as business owners and as individuals. Everyone from Bill Gates to the small business owner is given the same amount of time each day, 24 hours. Think of it like the auto races where they make all the drivers drive identically built and tuned race cars. The winner is then determined not by who has the fastest car but who can drive that identical car the best. Similarly in life the "winners" are those who learn how to drive their use of time the best.

So how do you take control of your time?

1. Accept that there is no such thing as too much or too little time. There is enough time available for you to be successful-others have been successful and they had no more access to time than you do. Take ownership of your situation. Be accountable for your results and responsible for your actions.
2. Decide what you want to accomplish. What do you want to be "successful" at? To some it may mean making a million dollars, to others it may mean being healthier while others may be looking to have better relationships with their family and friends. This is your goal. You must also understand the benefits to you of achieving the goal -how will it make you feel when you achieve it. Both the goal and your "why" must be written down with a time frame.
3. Once you have decided the goal and your "why", you must now determine the activities that will be necessary for you to accomplish that goal. What do I have to do? What time commitment will I make? What will I need to adjust/sacrifice/reduce/delegate in order to have the time to do the activities identified? Remember if it was easy everyone, including you would have already done it. What separates the successful users of time from the unsuccessful ones is the discipline and determination to obtain their goals no matter what. Winners never give up and they never quit on themselves.
4. Understand that life and business are about choices. You choose how you will spend your time- on what activities and how much on each. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Being successful in many different areas takes effort and time. Success comes from laser-like focus on one or two goals. Once they are accomplished you move on to the next set of goals and focus on those.
5. Prepare your calendar each week by creating "appointments" to do the activities that you have identified. These are defaulted into your calendar before anything else. Treat these as if the appointment was with your most important customer. Would you easily change your Monday 2-3pm "meeting" just because someone asked for that time slot? No, you would negotiate- "I am booked at that time. I can see you at either 1pm or after 3pm, which would work for you?"
6. Be militant about your schedule. If you don't care how your time is being spent, why should anyone else? Learn to say "No". In Stephen Covey's book "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" he breaks activities into 4 categories- Not Important/Not Urgent, Urgent/Not Important, Urgent/Important and Not Urgent/Important. The danger for most people is the Urgent/Not Important category. This is when we are responding to other people's urgencies, however the activity does not move us toward OUR goal- by definition it is Not Important. Beware of the time and effort devoted to those tasks. Conduct your own time usage study. Every minute that you can divert from not important categories to the important categories will move you closer to your goal.
7. Review your successes/challenges in meeting your schedule each week and adjust where necessary. Be honest with yourself and continually reinforce your "Why" - what are you trying to accomplish and how important is that to you.
8. Find an accountability partner or mentor to help keep you on track. We can all use help every now and then- it is a strength to admit this, not a weakness.

In summary, stop blaming time, take ownership of your time and commit to the discipline necessary to win the race by being the best "driver" of time you can be.

Why is Planning So Important

In his book, "What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School," Mark McCormak made an interesting discovery about the 1979 graduating MBA class. Within the group, 3% had written goals, 13% had thought of some goals and the balance were just thrilled to be out of school (I am sure you remember those feelings).

The interesting part was what happened ten years later. Here are the results of their success after a decade:

The group that had non-written goals were making TWICE in the field compared to the 84% of those who had no goals leaving Harvard.

The group with written goals was making TEN TIMES what the other 97% were making on average.

I think you would agree that the folks at Harvard have a long history of knowing what they are doing. So if the top 3% were able to make TEN TIMES the money as everyone else by simply writing out their goals, why aren't you doing it?

We are already through the hardest part of the 'recession' and yet people and businesses are still worried that our economic situation is dire. Resolutions made back at the beginning of the year, to get in better shape, to be a better golfer, to give more to charity, to be the best parent or spouse or partner that you could be may be starting to fade if they haven't already. But who says making and keeping resolutions is just for the beginning of a year. Why wait?

Make sure that one of the resolutions you set and keep right now is to make a strong plan for yourself and your business; ones with enough detail that you can actually make progress against them on a consistent basis.

Write down ALL your goals you have for the next year. Then, find someone to share them with and have them check up on you monthly (quarterly at a minimum) to see if you are making progress. Have them hold you accountable with winnings and loosing for completion.

ActionTIP: Make milestones and chip away at each goal a little everyday so the overall picture doesn't seem so overwhelming.

If you do this, then it won't be long before you are making TEN TIMES more than your competition.


 

5 Ways to Massive Profit

Hello everyone.

You will have read my blogs on networking and the power of such events. Here I am pictured with the global expert in business networking, the founder of BNI, Ivan Misner. Probably the farther of business networking as we know it. The notion of 'givers gain' is one which underpins my approach to business, creating synergy within business and business types.

To that end I would like to share with you all my most recent presentation from my last networking event; Sandy Parks (Exeter Chiefs Rugby Ground) first B2B Exhibition. I gave a presentation on 5 WAYS TO MASSIVE PROFIT. It is made up of two 10 minute presentations which will help focus your efforts on increasing your profit.

'You'll need to get into action once you have watched them'.

Enjoy.

Ten Principles of Leadership

ActionCOACH Founder and Chairman Brad Sugars believes, when people decide to respect you as a leader, they observe what you do so they can know who you really are.

People then use this observation to tell if you are an honourable and trusted leader, or a self-serving person who misuses authority. A good leader has an honourable character that selflessly serves his/her organization. In your employees' eyes, your leadership is everything. Your activities affect the organization's objectives and their well-being. According to Brad Sugars, a respected leader concentrates on three key areas:

• Be - what he/she is (beliefs and values)
• Know - what he/she knows (job, tasks, human nature)
• Do - what he/she does (implement, motivate, and provide direction).

For more on Brad Sugars' "Be, Do Have," take a sneak peek at his YouTube Video below. What makes a person want to follow a leader? People want to be guided by people they respect and who have a clear sense of direction. To gain respect, they must be ethical. A sense of direction is achieved by conveying a strong vision of the future.

The Three Most Important Keys of Leadership:

Studies have shown that trust and confidence in top leadership is the single most reliable predictor of employee satisfaction in an organization. Effective communication by leadership in three critical areas is the key to winning organizational trust and confidence, and involves:

1. Helping employees understand the company's overall business strategy.
2. Helping employees understand how they contribute to achieving key business objectives.
3. Sharing information with employees on both how the company is doing and how an employee's own division or department is doing - relative to strategic business objectives.

So basically, you must be trustworthy and you have to be able to communicate a vision of where you are going.

Brad Sugars' 10 Principles of Leadership:

1. Know yourself and seek self-improvement. In order to know yourself, you have to understand your "be", "know", and "do" attributes. This is possible by continually strengthening your attributes by reading and self-study.
2. Be technically proficient. As a leader, you must know your job and have a solid familiarity with your employees' jobs.
3. Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions. Search for ways to guide your organization to new heights. And when things go wrong, do not blame others.
4. Make sound and timely decisions. Use good problem solving, decision-making, and planning tools.
5. Set the example. Be a good role model for you employees. They will believe what they see - not what they hear.
6. Know your people and look out for their well-being. Know human nature and the importance of sincerely caring for your workers.
7. Keep your people informed. Know how to communicate with your people, seniors, and other key people within the organization.
8. Develop a sense of accountability, ownership and responsibility in your people. These traits will help them carry out their professional responsibilities.
9. Ensure tasks are understood, supervised, and accomplished. Communication is the key to this responsibility.
10. Train your people as a team. By developing team spirit, you will be able to employ your organization, department, section, etc. to its fullest capabilities.

The Process of Great Leadership:

1. Inspire a shared vision - Next, share you vision in words that can be understood by your followers.
2. Challenge the process - First, find a process you believe needs to be improved the most.
3. Enable others to act - Give them the tools, authority and methods to solve problems themselves.
4. Model the way - When the process gets tough, get your hands dirty. A boss tells others what to do; a leader shows it can be done.

Encourage the heart - Share the glory with your followers' heart, keep the pains in your heart - Human Relations:

• The six most important words: "I admit I made a mistake."
• The five most important words: "You did a good job."
• The four most important words: "What is your opinion?"
• The three most important words: "If you please."
• The two most important words: "Thank you,"
• The one most important word: "We"
• The least important word: "I"

WHY DO I NEED A BUSINESS COACH

Why Should You Have a Business Coach?

 

 

A Business Coach is just like a sporting coach. A sporting coach pushes an athlete to achieve optimum performance, provides support when they are exhausted and teaches the athlete to execute plays that their competition does not anticipate.

A sporting coach will make you run more laps than you feel like. A sporting coach will tell it like it is. And a sporting coach will listen.

The role of the Business Coach is to coach business owners to improve their business through guidance, support and encouragement. They help the owners of small and medium sized businesses with their sales, marketing, management, team building and so much more. Just like a sporting coach, your Business Coach will make you focus on the game.

The owners of small to medium sized businesses find it hard enough to keep pace with all the changes and innovations going on in today's modern world, let alone to find the time to devote to sales, marketing, systems, planning and team management, and then to run their businesses as well!

As the world of business moves faster and becomes more competitive, having a Business Coach is no longer a luxury; it has become a necessity.  Your Business Coach at ActionCOACH Northwest Houston is trained to not only show you how to increase your business revenues and profits but also how to develop your business so that you as the owner can work less and relax more.

Your Business Coach will become your marketing manager, your sales director, your training coordinator; your confidant, your mentor. Your ActionCOACH will help you make your dreams come true ...

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/007146672X/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=007146672X&linkCode=as2&tag=visisuppandch-21