I had the privilege of being in Germany when the Berlin wall fell. My father served 25 years in the military and 9 of those were in the Cold War era of then West Germany. At that time, West Germany was one of the most dynamic economies in the world. East Germany was a communist, economically struggling society. When the wall came down, hundreds of thousands of East Germans crossed into freedom.

One of the lighter sides of the whole ordeal was seeing the disparity between the two German peoples. I can remember traveling down the autobahn. There are no speed limits on the German autobahn. They were made for fast BMW’s and I would love to drive mine there for the pure speed thrill. That was what West Germans were like.

The East Germans had one type of car - the Trabant. It was a small boxy car that barely looked like a car. It resembled more of a toy. My friends and I would laugh and point at the contraption going down the autobahn. The car represented the shortcomings of a failed system. It was completely humorous to see it trying to get in the fast lane when it was inherently limited by design.

The “Trabi,” as it was known, has become obsolete as East Germans became exposed to the modern era of automobiles. The bar was apparently far higher. What was true for an industrial product is also true for the information age. We run across organizations continually who are trying to drive in the fast lane with a Trabant. They use knowledge tools, processes and techniques from an old world system to tackle the complexity of today:

• Connecting with the customer
• Attracting a customer
• Building team collaboration
• Leading teams
• Responsiveness
• Winning sales

Examples of this old system are:

• Using Microsoft Exchange and Outlook to organize information and collaborate.
• Trying to sell with Act or Goldmine
• Sending e-newsletters from a simple email program
• Having an expensive and elaborate phone system
• Having an expensive IT guy to maintain a server for an ambiguous reason

The old systems were built for organization. The new systems of today are built for speed and collaboration. The new economy is an autobahn. Getting in the game with a Trabant means you will get passed by with the BMW’s of the world.

Here is a statement of where things are at and are headed:

“By 2012, desktop software will be a quaint throwback, replaced by cloud computing.” - Fast Company

If you do not know what cloud computing is, it is because you have a Trabant mentality. You are likely doing it with online banking, Facebook, or a myriad of Software-as-a-Service offerings. It is not about the software anymore. That is a commodity which is maintained, upgraded and distributed by expert companies. It is about success in your business with the right combination of tools, process, and talent. Miss any one of these and you will experience business failure. By the way, a lot of people do miss; they think it is about the tool.

If you are feeling overwhelmed or are not able to get your business where you want it, think about this - your problem has been solved before. The question is whether you can recognize what you are driving and what kind of driver you are.

It is pure delight to help organizations get ahead. We help them send the Trabant to the junkyard and get into a new 5 series for the fast lane. Every time this happens, someone gets ahead. They are more productive, grow sales and have more peace of mind. If you are used to driving a Trabant, you may never conceive of the concept of pure speed and exhilaration. That is, until you get passed on the business autobahn by your competitors. Shatter the glass ceiling of your productivity. Get the right know-how and tools to succeed and you may realize how hard you are making it for yourself because of ignorance or inaction.

Go to the grocery store and buy all the ingredients you will need. Next, go to Williams and Sonoma and get the best cookware and utensils. Sit in front of the television and take careful notes. Mimic the cook and see if your dinner dish comes out as succulent as you saw.

Are you now a world class cook? Now that you have all the required tools, accessories and instructions, can you serve in the finest restaurants? How about if you read the manual, a good cook book?

What makes a world class cook? If we break down all the elements to their sterile descriptions as we illustrated here, we get a picture, but not necessarily the essence of what it takes to be a gourmet chef. No, there is a much larger price to pay for such excellence that people praise and have demand for.

Many products sell because they help us build illusions of approaching excellence. Skateboarders buy boards and shoes of their idols to help them believe they can skate better. Kids buy sports equipment endorsed by their sports heroes to supposedly help them play better. Business professionals buy the gadgets, devices and tools they see the people getting ahead using. There must be some advantage if the tools work for this person.

Too often we are caught copying the wrong thing. The tools we use are a small piece of any actual success. Talent and know-how far outweigh any tools. Many companies that have the same CRM systems have vastly different results stemming from how one corporation chooses to win with customers using CRM and another just has a fancy piece of software and is still losing.

Two people reading the same popular business book have far different returns on investment based on how they each apply the knowledge. The book does not make things happen. It is the person who knows how to act on the knowledge.

We are living in an increasingly complex world. In complexity there is great opportunity. The opportunity goes to those who know how to put the pieces together to build value. We live in a world where websites are boring. However, positioning creates value and income. A website is only a part of that process.

Don’t get mesmerized by the tools, the sneakers, the software, or any piece of commodity a person or company has. Having these do help; however, fixating on such things could leave you more spellbound than truly building value. How you use the accessories is what matters. The fact is that all the pieces exist for you to build what you need for your endeavors and success. Recognize that the real value is in how well or how poor you are at knowing what to do with the instruments for success. The wise person will focus on either paying the brain bill to grow and learn how to put the pieces together to get ahead or hire the people who know how.

This economy is filled with those who keep running into their own blind spot; they believe they just need a little help to get on their way or they can do what a true expert can do. All the while, time is lost and success becomes elusive. Get great tools, but know when you are not the person to use them for the best results. That will help you get ahead far faster than struggling through the illusion you can do it when someone else can do it easier, faster and cheaper.

Your customer, your boss, your family and your friends either have a good or bad relationship with you based on how you make them feel important.  Otherwise, there is not a relationship.  At best, there may be mutual exploitation and utility.

It should not shock me, but it still does.  I am incredulous at how business people miss the obvious. They wonder why they lack business when it comes down to how they work with their prospects, the vendors or anyone they run into.  We live in an ecosystem of relationships.  When we do not do the things which makes the other person feel important, then a relationship is in jeopardy.

Here are they blockades of why people do not give this all important ingredient to making relationships and business opportunities work:

1. Scarcity Thinking: People who have scarcity thinking are often blind to it.  They think it’s normal to only look out for themselves.  They think the game in life is to risk nothing - money, time, emotion, and money (yes, said twice) - and get what they can.  When we sense this about others, we feel their agenda is about them, not us.  It does not give us a feeling of importance, but only a feeling of being used or abused.
2. Lack of Gratitude: If you struggle with expressing gratitude or you are totally oblivious to the myriad amounts of people and opportunities which buttress you up in life and business, then you miss opportunities continually.  Think about when people do not express gratitude to you and how that affects you.  How likely are you to go above and beyond for the other person?  Not at all.
3. Lack of Belief: People that believe in themselves do not need to hog the spotlight.  They intrinsically know their value.  People that do not believe in themselves are so busy seeking their own importance that they are blind to the needs of others’ in this area.  It’s what Benjamin Franklin stated, “Pride is a strange disease.  It makes everyone sick except the person that has it.”

Make a person feel important and watch your world open up.  Get your eyes off yourself and put them on the other person and you will live a life of abundance.  Mary Kay trained her people to imagine everyone around them with a sign on their forehead with the words, “Make Me Feel Important.”

If you do not do this, then it is only about the money and only about you.  That does not motivate people towards doing business with you or being in a meaningful relationship.

This is not an area to rush in.  To see ourselves is difficult.  It requires us to be honest with ourselves.  Richard Feynman said, “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.”

Here are the steps to help live into this all important principle:

1. Decide: Decide that making others feel important is the number one priority. I am not speaking of flattery.  I am assuming genuineness on your part.
2. Act: If you lack creativity in how to make others feel important, it is because you have not used those muscles before.  It is the same reason you struggle finding the right gift for someone.  You lack really knowing or caring about them.  If you did, then the energy, enthusiasm and creativity follow.  Or, you may just be boring.  Stop being boring, and risk your heart through action.
3. Think: Train your thinking to be about others and not yourself and the habit will develop.  Your thought life reveals itself in your actions and decisions.

Ask yourself when you meet people, “How can I make him or her feel important?”  If you will do this one thing, then how you do business and how you connect with people will dramatically shift.  If you only focus on “How do I make money?” or “How do I feel important?” then the lack you feel in your business and life comes from missing the principle explained herein.  The cart is before the horse, and that creates an obvious challenge.  My hope is that you will be able to bring value and give it by making others feel important first.  It is a fun and rewarding way to live and do business.

We run into the challenge every knowledge worker is facing today.  We are all overwhelmed.  There are more emails than what we know what to do with.  There are more phone calls than we can return.  There is more news than we can absorb.

Information moves with such abundance and ease that it is hard to keep our bearings.  Often, we shut down and lose what is most important as human beings:

1. Decision-Making: Information is presented to us in order to move to an action or a decision.  Everything else is noise.  When we develop a continuous habit of letting our inbox fill up and not making decisions, we develop a habit of being indecisive.  The tragedy is that the items that are a crisis are what get addressed.
2. Priorities: It is easy to be busy without being productive.  Busy is lots of effort without hitting an impactful goal.  Productive is moving activities towards meaningful goals.  Heed Mike McLaughlin, “Never confuse effort with results.”  Most people talk about effort.  Winners talk about results.  All action is aligned to results.  Don’t get caught doing things that don’t matter.  You may fool yourself, but you can’t fool the people depending on you for very long.
3. Purpose: This may well be the most important aspect of life. When our work is not tied to purpose, then we lose enthusiasm and meaning.  Our motivation dwindles.  According to a recent poll, 70% of people in America hate their jobs.  So 7 out of 10 people you shake hands with are insane.  They are doing what they hate.  They have lost their purpose.
4. Happiness: Have you ever wondered why the Declaration of Independence talks about “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?”  It is what we want at our core.  All our actions are about being happy.  Yet, it is so elusive.  Perhaps the confusion comes from the overwhelming noise hitting us every day.

Here is the point.  Tomorrow you will face a barrage of information input.  It will be much more than your grandparents ever did.  They only had to make a few decisions in a day.  You are making micro and macro decisions all day long.  How do you win and love life?  You engage it.

The challenges will not change.  We are in the knowledge economy.  The person who can make decisions, work on what’s important, be purposeful and have fun at it will win.  Everyone else is getting through the day and not able to keep up.  They are falling behind.

If you decide you want to engage because you can see the connection between being excellent and being profitable, then become a better player.  This requires the best tools and learning productivity.  Likely, you put together your own method.  It may be ill equipped for the challenges of the knowledge economy.

Today, you need the best tools and the best approaches to not only engage the onslaught of work, but also to serve your customer better (or they go to your competitor), make your boss happy (or they get a new employee) and have a life (or you lose your health, or worse your family).

Bill Jensen said, “Every 1100 days your ability to transform information into work becomes twice as important.”  If you are still working like you did three years ago, then you are half as efficient.  You are losing ground.

Today, determine to upgrade how you do business and knowledge work.  You get paid for your ability or you get fired for your inability.  Connect with us to show you how to help you and your team get in the game of speed.

“A maybe person will never get you where you want to go.” - Jim Riley

There are two things that matter in business - decisions and actions.  All the activities, emails, conversations, meetings, phone calls, and myriad of work we do as knowledge workers ends up in a decision and an action.

Unfortunately, many people put their energy and emotions into another thing altogether - hope.  Hope is a poor strategy.  When a person you are seeking an answer from does not decide or act, it slows down momentum.  Their lack of forthrightness has you pursuing without a clear answer.  Unfortunately, we live in a society where people are not candid.  Rather than return a phone call as good etiquette, they ignore your call.  Part of it is inattention.  Part of it is hoping you will go away.  Either way, it is indecision and inaction.  They are likely not a decision maker, not interested or not polite.  It is a person not worth pursuing business with.

With increasing complexity, most people have a hard time making decisions even at a fundamental level.  Fear and being overwhelmed shuts down their decision making ability.  They become “maybe” people.  Nothing short of a crisis will move them to a concrete decision or action.  Everything else lingers.

When you need a decision or action, here are four things to help you move a “maybe” person to action if it is in the realm of possibility:

1. WIIFT: That is, “What’s in it for them?”  It ceases to amaze me the people who approach us to sell.  They mess up right from the start.  They put me in a position to say, “No.”  They speak in terms of themselves instead of me.  Did it ever cross their minds what I get out of it?  Ask that simple question for yourself, and talk in terms of the benefit to the other person and doors will open.  Be sure to think it through and sell the person on what’s in it for them.  That’s what matters to them.
2. Killer Questions: Questions open dialogue.  Selling makes it a monologue.  Ask good questions which get the person to think.  Otherwise, you will merely experience a script.  Ask questions like, “What if you could gain 20% more business, what would this do for you?”  Listen and engage.  You will learn what matters to the person and speak to number 1 above.
3. Lead, don’t close: I do not want to be closed.  You do not like to be closed.  However, we will follow a leader.  Be a leader in the conversation by having a path in your process.  If you don’t have a process (next steps) well defined, then it reflects on your ability to lead.  You are hoping rather than strategizing.  How does your buying process work?  Help the person take those steps with ease.
4. Give value first: If one sale would net you $1,000, how much would you spend?  $10?  $100?  $500?  The person who invests will win in the long term.  The one who seeks to give as little as possible for a large payout is a pure miser.  Pay a price others won’t (most won’t) and you instantly get ahead.  Your prospect will notice it as well.  What could you do with $100 to win a buyer’s favor in order to get $1,000?  If you can’t think of something, then therein lies the issue of why you have “maybe” people.  You give them no compelling reason to like you and want to do business with you.  That’s the mass of humanity.  Dare to step out and give value first.

The cold reality is that there are many people who are incapable of saying yes to you until a crisis happens.  In that case, better to nurture the relationship than try and push.  Nothing  you do or say will matter.  Keep bringing value over time and keep being accessible.  This requires a permission marketing system.  Otherwise, they will not think of you.

The mere fact that you want to sell something means nothing to a person who is not ready to buy.  Help people become more ready to buy.  It takes leadership, systems and strategic thinking.  Today, more than ever, there are too many options.  What you offer is a commodity.

To stand out, you must be strategic and systematic.  Learn how to do this in your own business by clicking here.  As we grow in our inattention, you will see more “maybe” people rather than decisive people.  If you learn to bring value, become relevant and be a leader, then opportunity will grow beyond your dreams.

Guarantees meet our need for reducing perceived risk. We have all been burned. We have all experienced unmet expectations. Thus, our guard goes up.

I can remember years ago when my wife and I were seduced into one of those typical honeymoon events - a timeshare presentation. Why not? We were in high spirits, our guard was down and everything was just a good time.

We were definitely entertained. It was salesmanship from the get go. There were multiple hand-offs between the street salesman to the breakfast reception to the keynote speaker. The experience was one giant show. The emotions and pressure were high. Promises were made and we bought. We bought what we thought were years of good times and a return on a small investment.

What we did was sign a guarantee. A guarantee that was for the timeshare company’s success, not ours. I learned a multi-thousand dollar business lesson and the education has served me well since then.

Now, no doubt, there are plenty of good timeshare companies out there making good on what they commit to. I happened to get the short end of the stick in my naivete and emotion in the moment. I was looking for a guarantee of happiness, comfort and a dream. In and of itself, these are good things. Whether a business delivers on it or not is another thing altogether.

I have also had great experiences with companies that give me a guarantee and then they do deliver. Everyone wins. The cost felt less risky because of the guarantee I saw delivered firsthand to help me get what I want.

As a customer, I want to feel confidence from who I buy from. I want to know they have conviction, believe they are the best and deliver. I want to know that when failure happens, they step to the plate and do two things: 1) say sorry and 2) make it right.

In business consulting, it is rigorous and hard work to put together the systems and approach to give guarantees to our customers. However, all the hard work has allowed us to have convictions and guarantees which we stand behind. If our clients apply what we implement, then they will see more sales. They will experience stronger customer relationships, and they will become more productive. It’s a guarantee.

If you want to win in the game of business and in life, dare to guarantee what you deliver. If you are having trouble doing this, then something is broken, likely your confidence that you can deliver. Tell your customers about your guarantee. Tell your friends. Let them know what you stand for and are committed to. That is what great brands and great people do. They commit, and they deliver in the midst of challenges. May you achieve higher levels of success because of your ability to guarantee results.

The biggest secret in business is right in front of you. Take out your credit card receipt from last month. Review it. Do any of the items stand out? How many could you have done without for another month? How many could you have done without period?

The question begs asking, why did you buy? How did you buy? Whether you realized it or not, you “bought” long before you purchased. It started when you began noticing watches, TV’s, or whatever it was that caught your interest.

Your attention moved to desire. You pictured the object or service bringing pleasure, relieving pain or increasing value in your life.

At some point the desire hit a tipping point. It was fanned through consistent, credible or intriguing exposure.

Then you bought. You bought it and satisfied your desire that started with paying attention. Each of the steps were laid out for you to buy in a sea of noise from a ton of other products seeking to get your attention.

When you thought about what you bought, you aligned your thinking to justify your decision. You justified it because it is difficult to be incongruent. You have to be aligned. You already decided; now you need to justify.

This is you as a buyer. The good news is that you are not unique. You are typical of a human being who buys. Different things are important to different people. If you don’t care one iota about top of the line cheese graters, you are not going to shop at Williams and Sonoma. However, if you have a friend who invites you to a wine and cheese party and starts to share their story about living their early years in France and enjoying social events like this, then the interest starts.

They tell you why it is important to have the best cheese and the best grating. They got you to pay attention and started to educate you on something you did not pay attention to or appreciated before.

If this is you as a buyer, then how are you as a seller? Do you sell in the way that maps to the way billions of people buy? Or are you just selling? Most people who sell miss the buyer. They skip steps. They ask before they have permission. They interrupt when they are not recognized. If you want to blow the sale, simply follow the masses. They are simply asking the wrong question - “how do I sell?”

However, if you want to align how you buy to how you sell (after all, you do not like being sold), then ask the right question - “Why do people buy?” If you can get honest with yourself, the reasons you buy are beneath the surface. They happened long before the sale. So must your selling connect with your buyer. You must get them to buy long before the sale. Get their attention. Win their trust. Give them advice. Enhance the value over time. Keep bringing value to a tipping point. Ask when you have earned it. Don’t skip steps.

Everyone is in sales. We have to persuade people that what we want is good for them too. If you want to connect with your customer and win them by courting them, you will have more business than you can imagine. If you want to just show up and sell, then you will likely be in the same place several years later.

The biggest secret in business takes some thinking about behaviors. It takes action to put systems in place which makes a person want to buy. There is a price to be paid - hard work, thinking and money. That is why those who pay a price easily separate themselves from their competition. Learn how to get people to buy by clicking here. Getting people to buy is much more fruitful than just selling.

Every business has the same challenge today. They are competing for attention. The number of choices available for any service or product are vast.

It used to be different. There were less choices. Thus, companies needed merely to advertise, and they would get calls.

Today, the game has shifted. In your business, you have lots of competition. Yet, if you are using old methods to try and reach your customer, you are invisible to your customer.

If you had to stop and think, what would make sense for reaching your customer? It does take thinking. Unfortunately, most people do not do this. Here is a simple truth. What do you do with all the mail when you get home? Surely, you do not keep it and read each piece of advertisement. It is called junk mail for a reason. You throw it away.

Multiply that behavior by millions, and we have customers everywhere ignoring a medium which once worked. As Al Ries stated, “Advertising is dead.” A simple method like mailers has a 99% failure rate. What a waste. If you ignore it, then why would anyone use it as a way to reach customers? It is because they are not thinking. They are hoping.

Everyone wants to grow their sales. Everyone wants to have strong relationships with their customers. If you will stop and think, let us show you how this is done in today’s economy. You must meet people in a precise way in how they buy, not how you want to sell. Click here and read this carefully. It will change your business.

Your customer has problems. Have you ever thought what your customer is spending 40+ hours a week doing? They are thinking about the things which matter in their world. They are consumed with their problems. They are trying to sell more, be more efficient, make payroll, develop a new product, manage staff, stand out, and have a life. You are likely thinking about doing these things as well.

If you want to connect with your customer it takes an obvious, yet very difficult intention. It takes thinking about them and not you. It is asking yourself good questions like:

• How do I help Jan sell more?
• What would enable Bob to be more efficient?
• What can I do to make Steve feel important?
• What new ideas can I give Jill to improve her service?
• What would be a great gift for Tom’s children?

These are intentional questions. They are often unnatural. It is because they disrupt your normal thinking which is about you:

• How can I sell more to Jan?
• Can Bob help me?
• Does Steve see me as important?
• What ideas does Jill have that I can use?
• How can I sell Tom?

As a customer, I want to know you are creative in servicing me. I want to know you care about me, not just my pocketbook.

Many businesses (not yours, of course) say they have a relationship with their customers. Look under the hood and you will find the customers do not feel like they have a relationship. They have transactions. Transactions are not relationships. Here’s the test for a relationship - if you called your customer, are you feeling this question from them, “What do you want?” If so, you may be using the wrong word for your relationship. They know your call is about you, not them.

Your customer wants to know you care about them and their issues above your own. If you want to give more than lip service and be able to say, “I connect with and care about my customer,” you need to show them consistently. Relationships are hard work. They are not convenient interruptions when you need something. If you want to truly build relationships, take a next step by clicking here to learn the art of building and strengthening your customer relationships. You will be going from lip service to live service.