Why Try To Get Out Of Your Box, When You Can Use What's In It?
If you charge a little more, what do you do to make it more valuable?
If you subject an employee to a consequence, what do you do to reward the others?
You can’t get away with only doing things one way, one-sidedly for long.
Either you find a way to push both ends of the spectrum and keep an equilibrium as you grow or let it snap back and bring you down to equilibrium.
Stay Positive & It’s Only A Matter Of Time (And Effort)
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Logically, you can be right, but not move a person to commit, buy or change their worldview.
Logically, we’re illogical human beings that rely on emotion more than we know.
Being part of the narrative the customer is telling himself, having empathy toward him, and making an emotional connection with him will trump the facts day after day.
Stay Positive & Listen With Your Heart
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The more we do business, the more often we act as if we know what the customer wants.
In doing so, we immediately jump to what we’ll offer, assuming the reasons why.
When, in reality, it’s not the offer that matters, it’s the ability to communicate that you understand and have listened to the customers desires.
Stay Positive & Prove You’ve Understood
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By default, when you work to start a business, you’ll be having conversations with a lot of smart(er) and already-successful people.
The soul purpose of these conversations will be to discover how they can help you.
You’ll be asked it a lot. “Great. I love your idea. How can I help?”
Will you have answers?
Unfortunately, “I don’t know what I don’t know,” doesn’t quite cut it.
Here are two actions to take so you’re not frazzled when asked how another can help and, more importantly, you get the help you need.
1) Most new meetings come from references. “Have you talked to Kevin over at X Business? He’d be a great guy to chat with.” Now you have a name, but it’s your responsibility to ask more. Something like, “Thanks. Where do you think his expertise is in relation to my business?” Essentially, you’re asking the person referring Kevin what they think Kevin can help you with. There’s your answer when Kevin asks you how he can help you.
2) Put the person you’re meeting in your shoes by asking them, “With the experience you have now, if you were starting my business, what would you focus on? What would you make sure that you would do?” When you put them in the driver’s seat, they’ll focus on doing right what they already know how to do right.
Stay Positive & You Don’t Always Need To Have Answers, But You Do Need To Have Questions
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There’s a man who is a successful doctor, but he doesn’t want to remain a doctor. His heart has shifted. He’s now in love with the piano even though he has never played the piano, or any instrument for that matter.
A situation like this isn’t uncommon.
There are more people with the urge to change their profession than ever before, but they always ask, how?
The answer is the same way the man became a doctor in the first place: studying and practice.
Genetics, friends who are already involved with a hobby, a parent who does what you want to do all help, but they are not essential. What’s essential is studying and practice.
Stay Positive & The True Test Of Passion Is Your Willingness To Do Them Consistently
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Quick test of your brand’s stability and clarity of messaging:
If you dialed it two…three…ten notches down, would people still know what you stand for? Would they believe your product or service fits within the narrative they have made for themselves? Do you retain a competitive advantage over the others?
You, personally, might not let it go down a notch, but you can’t stop outside sources from making it happen. Are you prepared? Do you have a buffer? Are you pushing yourself to do and be more to counter those unforeseen forces hoping to bring you down?
Stay Positive & Might Be Time To Dial It Up
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A Facebook for business webcast I watched talked about the upcoming holidays. The big takeaway? Posting (uh hum, and promoting) more frequently is the sure-fire way to get more conversions.
Yes, frequency matters, but it’s nothing without value, impact and care.
You can post a photo of a vacuum every day, but until you show how it fits into the story the target is telling herself, even if she buys the vacuum, it won’t matter. You will not have acquired a brand loyal customer.
Vaynerchuk rants endlessly about how the number of followers you make means nothing. The same goes for customers.
The goal of any post on any platform should be to acquire quality customers.
If you care about making a conversion today, by all means, post away. But if you care about the life-time value of those who purchase your product or service, you’re better off focusing on impact and storytelling instead of awareness and frequency.
Stay Positive & Maybe Spend That Extra $ On Increasing You Customer Awareness
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