Networking Is Not Selling

As you are busy networking – trying to build your business – keep the following article, by Abigail Dougherty, in mind.

The Bottom Line

Every business owner I know has a keen sense of their business bottom line. Is the business profitable, or not? If not, most owners have ideas to improve the business’s bottom line in the future. 

As you are busy networking - trying to build your business – keep the following article, by Abigail Dougherty in mind.

The Front Line

The front line is seldom as keenly managed. Most businesses define “front line” too narrowly as the first point of human contact. Front line actually includes every contact point a customer has with the business; from the moment the phones are answered, live or mechanically, all the way through the transaction, including service long after the original transaction is completed.

We recently dealt with two front line employees in a local store with markedly different results. One took the stance that our issue was outside the policy. He could not help us and we could take our business (and 13 years of customer loyalty) elsewhere. The second person explained why we were told “no,” then took the time to negotiate a win-win solution. The second person generated a huge sale and kept loyal customers happy. Sadly, the first person was the store manager. The helpful employee was a subordinate who took the initiative to seek a solution outside the policy to resolve the issue.

Tools for the Front Line

The best way to lose customers is to have rigid customer support policies that allow no initiative from your employees. Unless you have a truly unique product or service, it’s imperative that your customers believe they are being treated as individuals and someone is ready to listen and help them.

New hires do not belong in a front line role. They need to be shown, as well as trained, on the broad view and the details of who, what, why, how, and when of your products, services, your ideal clients, and your competition.

Experienced employees need to be armed with options and examples of prior customer solutions. It’s worth the time to send regular “win” messages to your entire team spotlighting challenging customer issues and the creative solutions to resolve them.

Make it a team effort. Use your collective resources, solicit, and then reward contributions for customer satisfaction from your entire team. You will probably be surprised how creative your staff is, when given the opportunity to contribute.

The Front Line Drives the Bottom Line

More than 70% of all buying decisions are driven by referral marketing, or word of mouth. Happy customers are your best sales staff. Happy employees who understand, believe, and can share success stories about your business are essential to creating happy customers.

Years ago I was the “right-hand assistant” for a funeral director/mortician. My job definition was one line: Help him do his work. One of my regular tasks was to write up, proof, and print the memorial cards for each visitation and funeral. It was better to have extras left over than to run out. I soon learned that most people have a circle of about 250 others who know and or care about them. We printed 250 memorial cards for most services and usually had only a few left over. This was pre-social media; today 6,000 appears to be the accepted reach for our circle of influence.

It’s human nature to share bad news more readily than good news. A happy customer will tell several friends, especially soon after they’ve done business with you. An unhappy customer tells everyone they speak to about their experience and will remember the story for years to come when your business name comes up, or even when the discussion turns to the same industry. Unhappy customers never forget and seldom forgive.

We are blessed with two eyes. As business people that means we keep one on the front line and the other on the bottom line.

Abigail@StraightEdgeSolutions.com

Everyone has personality quirks. How we behave when well rested and relaxed is often quite different from when we are tired or stressed. Beneath the variations, we have our fundamental personality. Some personalities are beneficial, even when they are annoying. Some personalities are better avoided. Here are four personalities I’ve labeled Nags, Neds, Nits, and Nuts.

NAGS
Contrary to popular fiction, this personality occurs in both genders. They repeat, repeat, and repeat the same information or direction. Since it’s impossible to find their “off” button, an effective strategy is to discover which communication style works best for them. Everyone uses sight, sound or touch to communicate. We each prefer one above the others. If your Nag prefers sight, a large erasable board to log their directions will often satisfy their need to know the message is received. If your Nag prefers sound, a return phone call to repeat back the directions could suffice. If your Nag prefers touch, ask them write to the message on your erasable board or on your priority list for the week. Once they know their message is heard, Nags are usually content to leave you in peace; at least until the next set of directions.

NEDS
Neds, also known as Negative Ned, never see the glass as half full. To them the glass is always broken and water is dripping on the floor. This personality kills all energy and enthusiasm out of their environment. They find fault with every suggestion, every innovation, and often with individuals as well. The only way to cope successfully with Neds is to keep them away. One Ned on the team drags everyone down. It is not your role, nor in your best interest to try and “cheer up” a Ned. Help them out the door!

“The only true disability in life is a bad attitude.” Scott Hamilton

NITS
Nits, also known as nitpickers, can be a gift. Nits’ role is to point out the details that separate the good from the best. Nits find the typo on page 372 of a 600-page manuscript and tell you about it. Nits remind us about due dates, in advance, so we can be successful. I appreciate the Nits in my life, even though I get frustrated when they find a detail I missed. If you are a Nit, be selective about which nits to pick. It’s more valuable to connect, rather than to correct, people.

NUTS
Humans are like a can of mixed nuts; some are enjoyable, some tolerable, and some need to be tossed. Unlike the can, human Nuts cannot be identified by appearance alone. It takes time to get to know the real person behind their persona.

There are Scary Nuts with little or no self-control of their behavior. There are Odd Nuts who have a zeal for a collection, an era, or an event. They love to share their passion with others. Best of all are Delightful Nuts who view life as a comedy and invite you to laugh with them.

Based on observation, Scary Nuts tend to have few friends. Odd Nuts tend to belong to groups involved in their fields of interest. Delightful Nuts will invite other Delightful Nuts to join their circle when they discover each other.

Odd Nuts and Delightful Nuts add tremendous joy to the workplace and to our personal lives. Scary Nuts are best avoided.

Be Aware
Personalities on the team have a huge impact on the success of any venture. It’s easier to be aware of the personalities prior to adding them to your team. There are tools and experts who can help you hire for personality as well as for competency. It’s worth the money to use their help. If you have Neds or Scary Nuts on your existing team, start the process now to help them find a new place to work. When those personalities get “hired away” it’s a happy parting.

© 2010 Straight Edge News All Rights Reserved.

Abigail Dougherty
Straight Edge Solutions
503-297-5798
Abigail@StraightEdgeSolutions.com

Thanks, Abigail!

Excellent and Plentiful Company

The latest Census Bureau statistics reported 20M businesses in America have one employee – the owner. An additional 6M businesses have fewer than 10 employees, counting the owner. To put those numbers into perspective: 26M businesses are more than the combined population of the 10 largest cities in the USA.*
 
For these small businesses, the good news is they have the ultimate flexibility to change and adapt to their clients’ needs and competition. The flip side is they are probably managing their business in isolation.
 
Reasons for Community
 
Share Knowledge
There is no reason to repeat the same mistakes another new business made. Other owners, even in different kinds of businesses, have a wealth of experience that will balance both scare tactics and rosy promises of an advertising salesperson, as an example.
 
Realistic Benchmarks for Success
Business owners tend to be optimists; it’s a prerequisite for daring to control our own destiny. Sometimes having advisors to push us when we are being too conservative, as well as to add a voice of sanity when we are about to bankrupt ourselves with a poorly analyzed action, can make all the difference to the success of our business.
 
Realistic Analysis of Errors
We are often our own worst critics! Sometimes it’s difficult to have a clear postmortem of what happened, why, and how to avoid a repeat in the future. It’s even more difficult when we are standing amid the fallout to see the next step to salvage our business.
 
Safety Net
People with close ties to a network of friends and family live longer, are happier, and enjoy better health than people who are isolated. Many business owners cannot discuss their challenges with the family without causing alarm. It’s not sensible to discuss your challenges with a competitor or your own clients. Who can you talk to?
 
Develop Your Community
 
Network
I wish network training was mandatory at age 13, with a refresher course each decade afterward. It would make school, the work world, and our communities much easier to navigate. Collecting business cards is not networking. Making and maintaining a true heart-to-heart connection is networking at its best. Research the commercial networking organizations in your community. The newspaper, craigslist, and Meetup all list these resources. It takes time to become known and for people to feel comfortable about referring you. Give any group you join at least six months before you decide you need to move on.
 
Mastermind
Masterminds are a small group of people, usually with non-competitive businesses, that get together on a regular basis to support each other’s growth by challenging the members to stretch into new goals and holding each other accountable for meeting their commitments. Commercial masterminds are usually more successful than voluntary ones, as they have enough structure and financial cost to encourage commitment. Ideally, find and negotiate to join a mastermind of the most successful people you can locate. Mastermind members are often scattered across the country and rely on the phone for some meetings, as well as weekend working retreats in various locations throughout the year.
 
Coach
Coaches are like a personalized Mastermind. They keep you accountable, will stretch you into new goals, and provide third party insights you might not have considered. People can work with different coaches, for different purposes, simultaneously. It’s also possible to work for several years with the same coach. As long as they are helping you grow personally and/or professionally, they are worth the investment.
 
Conference/Seminars
This is an expensive and often inconvenient way to build a network of like-minded people. Once the event is over, a rare individual follows up with the people they met at the conference. It’s difficult to absorb all the content provided and remember to make connections during the breaks or before and after the sessions. I encourage everyone to still network at these events, though it’s usually the hardest way to develop your network.
 
Your Decision
Regardless of how you build your community, it’s important to remember that other people and their opinions have no power in defining your destiny. We can listen to their ideas, but at the end of the day, it’s our business and we make the final decisions.                                                                     

© 2009 Straight Edge News          All Rights Reserved.

People, who are building their business through networking, can be some of the most successful professionals, and also some of the most active.  Because of this, I asked Abigial to contribute the following article so we can all gain some benefit. Enjoy.  Thanks, Abigail!

When someone else is managing a project or outcome they will remind you of what is due and when. When it’s your own business, especially if you are a sole proprietor or only have a few employees, it is often extremely difficult to stay focused on the priorities or to feel like you are making progress toward your goals.
 
Tyranny of the Urgent
If you’ve read the Steven R. Covey book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, you already understand the difference between important and urgent tasks. If you haven’t read this book, it’s worth making the time to at least understand the four quadrants and where you are spending most of your time.
 
Taking Action
In addition to understanding the difference between urgent and important, it’s crucial that you understand the difference between an action and a project. What we think is one action might actually be a series of actions required for a result. My own experience and my clients have taught me that business owners often label a result as an action.
 
“Update your website” is a result I often see on my client’s list. It’s usually been on their “To Do” list for months, because they haven’t taken the time to break it down into bite-sized actions. Without breaking it down, they cannot figure out what action is needed, so none is taken.
 
Example
Let’s talk about the steps involved to get to the desired outcome of an updated website. This list is neither comprehensive, nor in priority order. It’s merely an example to clarify the difference between the desired result and the many actions it takes to achieve that result:

• Establish a budget for updating website
• Get recommendations for a web designer
• Hire a web designer
• Establish priorities for the site update
• Call photographer for new photo
• Schedule haircut prior to photo
• Select photo
• Hire a writer to update content
• Hire marketing expert to consult on new brand/content/logo
• Book meetings with designer to review updates
• Proof updates
• Schedule soft launch of new site
• Marketing blitz for major launch of new site

The important point is that most of these steps are easy to do. If necessary, assign them to your assistant for completion.
 
Prioritize Daily
When there is a fabulous vacation coming up, or a crisis, most of us easily prioritize what must be done and what can sit or be delegated. Developing that skill on a daily basis dramatically increases results and reduces stress. Many years ago I discovered that I need to write things down.
 
All that writing meant I spent years with a “To Do” list with 20 to 40 things on it, every day. The pressure of undone tasks was exhausting. Recently, I learned a new discipline – prioritize three daily. I still keep a list in my notebook of all the things that need to be done for my businesses, my health, my home, and my family. The night before, I review the list, and select the three next actions that will have the biggest impact. I write those down and make them a priority for the next day. I might get them all done by noon; sometimes it will take the entire day to get them done. At the end of the day, I know I am moving forward on my highest goals. Occasionally, when I’ve been able to complete the three priorities for the day early, I will take on the next two or three highest priorities in the same day. Some days, once I’ve accomplished the highest priorities, I give myself permission to take the rest of the day “off.”

 © 2009 Straight Edge News          All Rights Reserved.

Contributed by:

Abigail Dougherty
Straight Edge Solutions 503-297-5798

Abigail@StraightEdgeSolutions.com

You may wonder what Tips for Outlook has to do with Networking Is Not Selling, but if you are trying to grow your business by networking, I’m sure you’ve found, like I have, that you need to stay organized. One of my favorite writers/speakers, Abigail Dougherty, has given us some useful tools to stay organized using Outlook.

 1.  Change Your View

Set up your Outlook page so you see your calendar before you see your email. That keeps you focused on the tasks that must be done for the day, before you risk being sidetracked with email messages.

 On Microsoft Outlook main page click on TOOLS, then OPTIONS. At the top of Options page you have choice tabs:  Preferences, Mail Set Up, Mail Format, Spelling, Security and Other. Click on OTHER.  Under General (the first choice) there are two buttons – select ADVANCED OPTIONS.

 Under “Startup in this folder”:  Browse for CALENDAR
Then OK yourself back to the main screen.

This will prompt the calendar to be the first thing you see when you turn on Outlook.

2.  Turn it OFF!

A. Turn off default meeting reminders – You can manually set this for only your critical appointments. This will save you a long list of reminders for appointments that are passed when you’ve been away from the office for a few hours.

On Microsoft Outlook main page click on TOOLS, then OPTIONS. At the top of Options page you have choice tabs: Preferences, Mail Set Up, Mail Format, Spelling, Security and Other. Select PREFERENCES, go down to Calendar (second choice) and remove the check mark from default reminders. 

B. Turn off all the incoming email notifications

On Microsoft Outlook main page click on TOOLS, then OPTIONS. At the top of Options page you have choice tabs: Preferences, Mail Set Up, Mail Format, Spelling, Security and Other. Select PREFERENCES, go down to email (first choice), click on EMAIL OPTIONS. This opens up Advanced E-mail Options.

The second section “When new items arrive in my Inbox” should ALL be UNCHECKED. You do not need a ding, a ghost, a changed cursor or an envelope to tell you email is there if you get in the habit of regularly checking your email only two or three times a day.

3.  Building Your Contact List
Use your signature block on all new messages.

On Microsoft Outlook main page click on TOOLS, then OPTIONS. At the top of Options page you have choice tabs:Preferences, Mail Set Up, Mail Format, Spelling, Security and Other.

Select MAIL FORMAT, go down to SIGNATURES (third choice) and select your email account(s) that need a formal signature block. Select signature blocks for both the original messages as well as responses to messages. Click on SIGNATURES to see and edit any signature block you currently have set up.

The key is to click on APPLY, rather than OK once you have made your updates/corrections.

 When someone pulls up your message they can easily create the contact page in Outlook to reconnect with you. They will simply drag your message into CONTACTS, which automatically opens a new contact. It’s a quick cut and paste to put the information in the right places in the contacts form.

4. Booking Appointments

Have you ever missed an appointment because critical information wasn’t on your PDA or calendar page?  It’s not even necessary to open the email to turn it into a calendar event.

Simply drag the email message onto the Calendar selection and a new appointment will open – with today’s date and the current time. You will need to edit the date and time to match the actual meeting time. It’s also an excellent time to copy-paste the location or bridge line information into with the subject or the location of the appointment. Now your PDA will show the necessary details. A copy of the email will stay attached to the appointment in your calendar. The original message is still in your in box, so you can file it appropriately.

These simple steps will make your life easier and allow a few more minutes to call that client or talk to that vendor you’ve been needing to meet.

© 2009 Straight Edge News          All Rights Reserved.

Contributed  by Abigail Dougherty

Straight Edge Solutions  

503-297-5798

Abigail@StraightEdgeSolutions.com

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