Best Wishes for Best Practices

Every once in awhile, a message gets through. I mean really through. To the core of your soul through.  That happened to me while working on this issue.

I had the pleasure of sitting in a room with some of the world’s giants during the Champions For Kids (CFK) Global Leadership Conference. You’ll find a snippet of the day in the Biz2Biz feature story this month. My takeaway was on the reality of America’s (non-existent) “Best Practices” for children.  It’s impossible to condense an entire day into 1,000 words, but I hope you will take note that there is a lot of work to be done here at many levels, and that you will not be alone if you take up the gauntlet. In fact, you will be in great company.

Adelaide Schaeffer is CEO of CFK. David Gergen called her a “luminous woman” and I have to agree. She said, “We’re living in a world of transactions, whether as non-profits, businesses, or people. We may think we are going to relate with people based on transactions. But we don’t. People do not become part of the bigger team because of the price point, the glitz, the glamor or the shelf space. There they make a transaction. At the end of the day they buy the product or they don’t. But it doesn’t change their lives.”

Well, doggone, she’s right. As business leaders we can even be dedicated to a best practices approach and still just be making a transaction. Even our 140 characters on Twitter or Facebook is posting a transaction.  As consumers, it’s all about “me.”

No, I don’t have an answer to conclude this letter. I only have more questions. But I can see that as long as we’re asking questions, we’re looking for answers.  Open your eyes to the possibilities.

Best Wishes for Best Practices in 2011!

Doing 'The Work'

Are you an entrepreneur or business owner who feels there's never enough time in your day? Never enough skills in your skill set? Or tools in your toolbox? 

Are you one of those who constantly measures where you've been and where you are going and how much further you must travel to get there? 

Yes? I want to join your club. And I want to bring something to the table with me. 

It's called "The Work" and it's a simple process of inquiry developed by Bryon Katie.  It's a way of identifying and questioning the thoughts that cause our fears and inefficiencies.

I may be spilling some beans here, but I know that MY thinking can and does do damage. Which, of course, only piles up on MY plate to fix, undo, and get over.

In doing The Work, I have found that I project my own fears and doubts onto others and second guess my abilities long before they do. I am constantly assailing myself with the belief that I must be more, do more, achieve more. I must be smarter, faster, first. It's exhausting! Staying competitive in today's marketplace is exhausting!

The Work is a personal journey, and it's not necessarily for the workplace. But rest assured, everyone who is coming to work could use The Work to make them happier, healthier, more efficient employees, bosses, and leaders.

One might could say the marketing messages we communicate about ourselves to ourselves are the most prevalent in our lives.  If we can open just one door that lets in enough light to see we are indeed good, honest, capable, compassionate human beings, then we're all going to benefit from it. Imagine, then, if we could throw open all the doors. What a world!

Check out TheWork.org website and videos, and any number of Bryon Katie's books on the subject at Amazon.com, along with books co-authored with Eckhart Tolle.

Measuring the positives

As I approach my business and marketing planning retreat for 2011, I am reminded to look back at where I’ve been with as much enthusiasm as I look forward. I have to admit that I am more likely to have enthusiasm for what lies ahead and criticism for what’s been left behind. For me, it’s easier to have hope about something yet to come than to see the successes-not-the-failures passed.

Today I’m doing a turn around. Today, I’m looking back on the positives of 2010 and how I’m going to apply them to the future.

I learned a lot from the columnists who share the pages of Biz2Biz digital magazine. I gained a better insight on my role as CFO and how each decision I make can be tracked to the bottom line. I learned how little things can make a difference and how valuable perspective can be. 

I gained skills as a leader of my business, my time, and my passion. I learned how to better organize each of these roles, which individually could occupy all of my energy if I let them. As many of you know, I’m a single mom, too, so family and the responsibilities of home, hearth and happiness have to join the plate in heaping big amounts.

I learned about new media, sales cycles, social media and small business champions. I was inspired by others who jump out of bed everyday to climb the Mt. Everest of entrepreneurship. I mentored those with aspirations to start the trek. I shared a cup of solace with those whose dreams were dashed, and cheered for those who found their mark. And all the while I edited, edited, edited.

It’s been a good year.

B2B Bingo by Janie Clark: Who's minding the store?

B2B Bingo by Janie Clark: Who's minding the store?: "When business messaging isn't so haute. As a communications strategist, I am always looking at business messaging with a critical eye. I ..."

Who's minding the store?

When business messaging isn't so haute.

As a communications strategist, I am always looking at business messaging with a critical eye. I see typos and taboos like a hound dog sniffs out a rat. We all make mistakes, but when communicating with our potential customers -- whether in an advertisement, an email or a text message -- what you say or don't can make or break the bond. 

That goes for verbal messaging, too. How you greet a customer when they enter your store or telephone the office is just as important in this sequence of successful communications.

Yesterday I found two rats in the game that were so disturbing I have to blog it out. 

I made a call from the car about a piece of real estate. The path was confusing enough-- the sign in the front yard had four or five names and telephone numbers. I dialed one and was given another number -- verbally -- which is a difficult task when you're driving. From there I was transferred to another number and asked to hold, and while I was waiting my call dropped off. Now I'm back to square one. I looped through the pattern twice before I gave up. 

I still don't have the information I wanted. They don't have the sale. 

Later I was at a block party in an upscale shopping center in Rogers. I visited one store three times, even tried on something, and was never greeted by the owner or staff. Never. Nothing. And, we might have purchased the item we tried on if the situation had been different.

So, who's minding the store?

It's not fair ratting them out without being constructive in return. Here are three points to consider in your business messaging.  

1.  Establish a experience protocol. What you do want your customers to experience when they contact you?  Remember, they've taken the initiative to respond to your stimuli (whatever that is), which you've spent good money to acquire. What's in it for them? Write out the story you want to tell, the experience you what them to have, then make sure every step in your protocol supports it. Test it. Refine it. What will be their final message about your company?

2. Create an immediate bond.  Let's face it, there are some basic dos and don'ts. A company that doesn't greet people who walk in the door simply won't be in business long. Even the sub makers at Firehouse Subs look up from what they're doing to welcome you when you walk in their door. Every one. Every time. Make no mistake, that's no accident. 

3. Find a way to reconnect. Invite people to return to your business at another time. Whether it's a business card, a sample, or news about an upcoming sale, extend an invitation to return. Invite them to join your email list, your loyalty program, your taste of the month club.

If you are on the phone you might ask for their name and number if you must put them on hold. One of my favorite examples comes from my phone carrier's support protocol. Not only do they establish an immediate bond -- an exhange of first names -- but they get my telephone number so they can call me back if (read: when) we get disconnected. And they tell me that's what they are doing. 

So much of business is common sense, and yet it's the uncommon we gravitate to. Remember to be good to your customers... or they are likely to become someone else's!

Networking with Sir Richard Branson

If you've been working on the business start up idea of the century, you could win a day with Sir Richard Branson on his Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands. Or you could pay your own way with a cool $40K.  

Either way, you'll be rubbing elbows, knees and toes with a cross section of the world's top business visionaries in internet marketing, manufacturing, investments and trading, fitness and wellness products, software and consulting. And, let's not forget the opportunity to brainstorm with rebel billionaire Sir Richard Branson about your winning business idea.

All business? Of course not. It's a private island for heaven's sake. Plan on a little adventure, camaraderie and fundraising in between. MBA founder Yanik Silver says the event is not on corporate team building or motivational development. It's an all-inclusive adventure outing that encourages high-level networking and powerful connections that "can only occur outside normal business settings."

The competition is the work of Maverick Business Adventures and Joe Polish's Centurion MasterMind Group. Joe Polish is the founder of Piranha Marketing and creator of the Genius Network Interview series. The trip is just one of the 50 prizes being awarded for the most promising start-up businesses with high-growth potential in the competition they call, Startup Open.

The competition coincides with Global Entrepreneurship Week 2010 (GEW) Nov. 15-21 staged internationally by universities, colleges and entrepreneurship-focused organizations who are looking at ways of conducting business that can improve lives, build economies and expand human welfare.

The inaugural event of GEW was held in 2008. Last year, more than 7.5 million people took part in some 32,000 events across 88 countries. This year 10 million people in 102 countries are expected to participate.

 

Better hurry. Registration for Startup Open closes Oct. 31. http://www.startupopen.com/ for complete details.

Leadership in Northwest Arkansas

Bill Rancic in NWA at Biz Expo

This month we look at leadership in small business. We were inspired by Bill Rancic at the NWA Business Expo and Conference in August and saw how creativity, perseverance and leadership can take you far. As you may recall, Rancic was the first winner of Donald Trump’s TV show, “The Apprentice.”  Admittedly, his experience with Trump has opened doors, but Rancic’s penchant for business started early in life.

Like many entrepreneurs, Rancic hopes to share his experience and business mindset with the leaders of tomorrow. His book, “Beyond the Lemonade Stand” is one effort to coach youth about how to succeed in business – especially by being smart, fair, and helping those who need it.

Here in Northwest Arkansas, Champions for Kids endeavors to do the same. Be sure to read about their upcoming Leadership Conference and what CFK’s CEO learned at Harvard that applies right here at home.

What makes a good leader? Biz2Biz NWA’s September issue is full of ideas, comments and suggestions from your peers and colleagues in Northwest Arkansas.  We can all benefit from the aggregate of  this knowledge and experience as we lead our businesses and our community to greatness.